The Ongoing Journey
by Senrab Nomis
Summary: Atlantis has been on Earth for two months. Now the gang are eager to get back to Pegasus and to take the city they call home with them. But the Pegasus galaxy has more secrets than they imagine and many hidden threats. They will soon learn there are things hiding in the shadows that they never expected to encounter. AU. Chapter 1 now rewritten.
1. New Beginning

**Well here i am with my next story, this time its a continuation piece for the Atlantis series, interestingly if the movie had come out by now i probably wouldn't be writing this. Hope you all enjoy, any suggestions send them my way, but please no flames. Any mistakes, point them out and i will correct them, otherwise whats the point of the edit button. **

**For future reference i am classing this as an Atlantis piece because thats where i am focusing, but i may also delve into SG-1 since i have a few ideas for the Milky Way, let's see shall we.**

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**Timeline wise, this piece is set before Universe and shortly after the end of Atlantis.**

**This first chapter is a little techy, and for that i apoligise to those who aren't really a fan of that sort of thing. Basically i am trying to establish a baseline for current Tau'ri tech and get the explanations out of the way in one go. The next few chapters are where things really start to get rolling.**

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The _George Hammond_ was one of the latest battle cruisers to be built by the Tau'ri. She may have been a part of what would be considered a very small fleet overall by most races standards but that in it self made each and every ship that more precious to its crew, its builders and the Tau'ri as a whole. The ship was easily dwarfed by a Ha'tak and her small size made her seem delicate and deceptively weaker than other capital ships, but was fitted with the most powerful shields and weapons of the late Asgard race. This meant the ship itself was much like the Mark IX modified nukes she carried, compact but devastatingly powerful and capable of great destruction.

At the moment the _Hammond_ was soaring through hyperspace. Her hyperdrive, once again a gift from the Asgard, propelled her through this exotic dimension at an incredible velocity. Like her namesake the ship was entrusted with the responsibility to protect Earth, and its people, in the hope that some day the world would be ready to learn the history of the ship and its name. The death of General Hammond had been a great pain to those who knew him, and it was with no small amount of pride that Colonel Samantha Carter took command of the ship that had been given the name of a man she so deeply respected.

The _Hammond_'s current course directed her to a planet that was known to those in the know as P4X-650, but to those on an even shorter list of people this planet was thought as the Alpha Site. Of course the name Alpha Site was a history in itself, as this was actually the third base to bear the name. The first two Alpha Site bases had both been abandoned once the locations were compromised, and in the case of the second actually blown up as a result. In other words a lot of hope was placed in this third base which was remarkably similar to the SGC in that it was also built inside a mountain.

The intercom on board the battle cruiser activated and the voice of a young airman sounded throughout the ship.

"Attention all hands, we will be arriving at our destination in one minute. That is all."

Walking along the ships corridor Rodney McKay sighed as he heard this. On a military ship that required the civilians to have a high security clearance even the ship wide announcements are need to know. Thankfully he was in the know so he knew that they were about to arrive at the Alpha Site. As he entered the bridge he felt the familiar gentle shudder under his feet as the ship re-emerged into real space.

The physicist looked around and saw that his friend Lt Colonel John Sheppard was already there, staring intently out of the forward window at the planet before them. The planet which, unknown to most, contained the future of the Atlantis Expedition.

Rodney spoke up as the ship settled into orbit. "You know you can't actually stare a hole into the window right, and this isn't the first time you've seen an alien planet."

John turned away from the window with a cocky grin on his face, "Maybe you can break it with your ego, and I hear it's gotten a lot bigger lately."

"Okay boys break it up." Both grown men turned to the woman sitting in the commander's chair. Colonel Samantha Carter rose from her chair grinning at their antics.

Anyone who knew them would know that the two were the best of friends and the jibes were the boy's way of keeping each other on their toes. The trick to seeing this was to focus on the tones and not their words.

Rodney merely grinned, his friend wasn't half wrong. He was certainly a lot more content lately, and he only had to glance at the gold band on his finger to get a confidence boost and a small smile on his face.

Anyone from the SGC who was told that Doctor Jennifer Keller was now going by the name Keller McKay would ask jokingly if her husband was a well known Doctor McKay. After they had picked their jaws up off the floor they would then ask how the guy had gotten so lucky. The answer was simple, Pegasus. Five years in another galaxy fighting off the real life equivalent of space vampires was enough to change anyone. In Doctor McKay's case he had become a lot less self serving and during the first year had almost entirely dedicated himself to others sake, with the rest of the time keeping himself alive so he could try to save everyone else later. Then in the expeditions fifth year the mans had met the woman of his dreams which made him a lot more cheerful, in his own words it was hard to be grouchy when your having breakfast with an angel every morning. Now that he was married to said angel the guy was almost unbearably smug about it.

Of course for the sake of preventing unnecessary confusion Jennifer was still being referred to by most as Doctor Keller. Although it had been very funny at first to see the look on an injured technicians face when an irritated marine had told him to stop whining about a scratch by Pegasus standards and go and get it looked at by Doctor McKay. If a technician confined to base was injured it usually meant they had done something wrong, and if they had done something wrong it usually meant they had damaged Rodney's much loved city.

He had actually proposed to her shortly after Atlantis had returned to Earth. To his amazement she had said yes and with his information about the expeditions future he had suggested they have the wedding sooner rather than later. Thanks to the efforts of a few women, namely his sister Jeannie, Sam, interestingly enough Laura Cadman and of course Jennifer herself all Rodney ended up having to do was agree to their choices for the ceremony. Given that they planned to have the wedding within a month and that most of the people they wanted to invite now had security clearance they had decided to have the wedding on one of Atlantis's piers.

By then the city had been moved to the enclosed bay of a very private island that had previously belonged to Alec Colson before being eagerly snapped up by Homeworld Command given its features. The island had its own airfield, which was not surprising given its previous owner, as well as luxurious facilities that could be used for any extraterrestrial guests they might have in the future. The islands circular bay provided excellent cover for the city and thanks to some modified hologram emitters covering the bays entrance, generating the illusion of a rocky wall and no bay entrance, the city was almost unnoticeable. Of course if any boats even got anywhere near the island or the emitters or the back-ups failed, they could always use the cities handy cloaking device.

The guest list had featured all their friends from the SGC and the Expedition, and in the case of a certain General, Homeworld Command along with their respective family. This last addition to the list had thankfully meant that Rodney's sister and her family and Jennifer's father had all gotten security clearance to go to the city for the ceremony with ease. Of course they all had to sign a non-disclosure agreement swearing their secrecy, and it was certainly interesting explaining what she was signing to young Madison. Thankfully they hadn't had to worry when it came to photos, the wedding photos all showed a lovely background of a clear blue sky and a deep blue ocean.

"Apologies Colonel, so what is it that dragged me here and Rodney away from his new bride."

Sam laughed at his question. Sheppard had been begging her to tell him what the big secret was the entire trip from earth, and because they were friends she had restrained from pulling the rank card on him. Another reason was because it was so damn funny.

"Trust me Colonel when I say you're about to be put out of your misery." She turned to the crewmember sitting on her right. "Beam us down."

In a flash of white light the three of them disappeared from the bridge and found themselves inside a concrete walled room. The long conference table and large blast door covered window made the room seem very similar to the briefing room back at the SGC. A tall man with dark hair streaked with grey was the room's only occupant. His voice was welcoming as he spoke.

"Colonels, Doctor, welcome to the Argus shipyards."

Sam smiled, "Good to see you again Colonel Pierce, although I am surprised you're here to meet us."

Pierce chuckled, "Don't worry he's on his way. You're a little early so he should be arriving any minute now."

John stepped forward, "Nice to be here sir, and did you say shipyards?"

This question was answered by a very familiar voice.

"Yes Colonel he did, that's why you're here."

All faces turned to the just arrived Lt General Jack O'Neill. Sam smiled at the site of her old teammate and friend.

"Sir."

Sheppard followed her lead. "General Sir."

"Now none of that you two, when I pull rank I'll let you know." Jack hated being talked to formally when he was with people he considered to be his friends. Surprisingly this even included McKay, the guy had become that much less annoying lately. That and its really hard to actually hate a guy you once considered selfish but then turns around and comes up with a brilliant plan to save you from a load of human form replicators.

He turned to Colonel Pierce. "Thanks for keeping them company for me."

With a nod and a "No problem sir" Pierce turned and left the room.

Once the Colonel had left Sheppard spoke up, "Okay, since we're dropping formality for the time being can someone please explain all of this to me. I thought this was supposed to be the Alpha Site not a shipyard."

To his slight annoyance everyone else lightly chuckled at his bewilderment and general confusion.

"Okay what's so funny?"

Sam decided to put him out of his misery. "You see Colonel Argus is technically a separate facility from the Alpha Site. When we planned to build the facility we were considering building it on a separate planet altogether. Of course since we didn't have the available ships to permanently guard a planet while adequate defences were being built that plan went out the window, so we built it here."

General O'Neill took over, "This entire facility is designed to operate independently from the Alpha Site for security purposes. It has its own power generation and the space to quarter all the staff here. Even though the facility is supposed to be as secret as the Alpha Site itself I made sure separate defences were assigned to both facilities. Anyone who visits the Alpha Site will not find anything there to suggest that this base exists, and even if they hear the name it won't suggest that it's located here. I also got the geeks to install some of that hologram camouflage tech to cover the place up, at least from the air anyway."

John was happy he was finally getting some answers. "So what are the specs of this place then?"

General O'Neill chuckled, "Well that's opening up a whole can of worms right there. I'll let these two field that, they came up with most of the designs anyway."

John turned to look at the two smiling scientists in disbelief, "You helped designed this place Rodney and you never mentioned it."

"Well it was something we were working on when Sam was at Atlantis. Of course she has made some major modifications in the past year once we actually got the beaming technology working properly."

One of John's eyebrow rose at this, "Beaming technology?"

Sam smiled, "All in good time Colonel, first of all there's this."

She moved over to the conference table and pressed a button on the side of a large circular disk placed in the centre. The disk lit up and a partially transparent hologram showing an external view of the Argus shipyards appeared a few inches above it. The hologram showed numerous buildings clustered together. In the middle of the cluster were four buildings, one of which was the largest on the map, the other two were similarly sized and quite close together meaning they took up about the same space as the largest building, while the fourth was smaller than the rest but not by much. At compass points to this central cluster were four smaller buildings about a third of the size of the largest while in between these were four slightly larger buildings. On the outskirts were the smallest buildings yet, there were a dozen of these arranged like numbers on a clock face. These buildings were quite spread out even on the hologram and the representations were quite small, meaning that in reality the entire facility would cover a very large area.

"Okay we'll start on the outside and we'll save the big building for last," said Sam switching into lecture mode as she indicated the outer buildings. "So each of these twelve buildings are hangers for F-302's, they both build and store them for use either on the 304's when their built or as defence for the base." She pointed to the mid region buildings. "Now these are for constructing the 304's but only the smaller ones, the bigger ones are for dedicated ship maintenance for the fleet as we build it. The beams are the same as the ones on the _Odyssey_ just on a much larger scale and they can create matter out of pure energy so we don't have to mine the resources to create ships, however the sheer amount of power required means that it takes longer. These beams are also incorporated in the maintenance hangers but obviously can't work on the insides of the ships so we have technicians to perform these tasks. The advantage of this is that technicians who work in these buildings can then go to work on the ships themselves as this is a great way to gain experience. The buildings also allow us to upgrade all of our battlecruisers with new tech that will later be made standard on all future constructs." She finally pointed to the middle cluster, primarily indicating the smaller lone building. "This building acts as housing for everyone here so obviously it needs to be quite large. It contains several canteens and lounge areas for people who are off duty as well as living quarters. The middle two have two different jobs; one contains a shield generator which will cover this entire base which has its own generators while the other is filled entirely with generators which powers this entire base. Of course if necessary the power can be redirected to the defences, which by the way are scattered around the base and don't appear on this basic schematic."

John raised an eyebrow at this, "What kind of defences are we talking about?"

General O'Neill grinned, "Remember this list, it'll come in handy later. As I recall, and since I listed the requirements I should recall quite clearly, 10 APB's, 15 ion cannon turrets and 60 twin railgun turrets."

"Ion cannon turrets?"

Rodney spoke up, "They were engineered using information taken from the Asgard core, basically they are weaker than an APB but fire bolts rather than beams, meaning they can track a moving target and continue to fire at it. Each turret is self contained with its own generator, which by the way is a Mark II naquadah generator not operating at near overload, meaning it will provide less power but lasts a long time, unlike the last ones."

He still remembered when they tried to use the Mark II's to power the Atlantis control chair, there failing at the last minute meant that Sheppard had been looking at a suicide mission and it would have been if not for the timely arrival of the _Daedalus_.

"Okay just one question." He pointed at the largest building. "What's that?"

Rodney smiled, "That is where we are now."

"And as for what's in it, why don't we show you," added General O'Neill. He nodded to Sam who walked over to the blast shield covered window and pressed a button on the wall. As the blast shield rose it revealed a massive hanger that was very much filled. "Colonel say hello to your new ship."

The group moved out to the viewing platform with John looking as wide eyed as a kid on Christmas morning, staring in awe at the massive ship before him. At a rough guess she appeared to be about 1100 metres long, 350 metres high and 400 metres wide.

"What did you people do, cross breed an Aurora and a 304?" John asked in amusement, referring to the two hangers and the general shape of the ship.

"What can I say this is what the design team came up with for the purpose of the ship," Sam said casually. "Although it does kind of remind me of an Aurora."

"So what is she?" John asked. "Or better yet what is she called?"

"She is a BC-306," O'Neill replied. "And no the BC doesn't stand for battlecruiser."

"So what does it stand for?" John asked.

"Battle carrier," O'Neill answered. "She can hold one hundred and twenty eight 302's and twenty transport shuttles. This ship is designed to be a roaming fortress and allow you to survive in Pegasus without a base to retreat to."

"In other words we aren't getting Atlantis back," Sheppard stated.

O'Neill sighed. "Look Sheppard I know how you feel. Personally Woolsey and I couldn't agree with you more but for the time being Atlantis needs to stay here. The drone platform was our last line of defence and with the chair gone Atlantis is the only thing that can change that. I promise you though that the second that changes Atlantis will be back in Pegasus where she belongs."

"Oh and to answer your other question she is called the _Weir_," Rodney added.

Sheppard's breath momentarily hitched. "As in Elizabeth Weir?"

Rodney nodded. "With General O'Neill's personal seal of approval."

"Thank you sir," Sheppard said gratefully.

"Don't mention it, now on with the show."

"So what makes this ship a base?" Sheppard asked.

"You mean aside from the numerous science labs, construction areas, food synthesisers and the ship construction area?" Rodney asked.

"Ship construction area, seriously?"

"Oh yeah," Rodney said. "The _Weir_ was built with industrial beaming technology which is a version of the transporter beams designed to re-arrange the molecules of raw materials into whatever shape we want. Those same beams are present in the construction hanger which can build three battlecruisers at a time."

"With enough raw materials and power we were able to build this ship in a month," Sam said. "But we could also build a single battlecruiser in a week."

Sheppard let out a low whistle. "And if power is limited?"

"Aside from the four neutrino ion generators, built from plans taken from the Asgard computer core, that power the ship there are several Mark II naquadah generators as back ups. The primaries, while not being the most advanced models, can build a single battecruiser in a week but the back-ups would require three."

"She really is a mobile base," Sheppard said in wonder.

"Yep and she has teeth too," O'Neill said with a grin.

"Big honking space guns sir?" Sheppard asked, mirroring his bosses grin.

"Oh definitely, and one very big gun in particular. The _Weir_ has the same weapons as this entire shipyard does."

"Damn! That is a hell of a lot of firepower."

"It should be," O'Neill said. "The most important thing this ship requires is protection. We can't have all that advanced technology falling into the wrong hands."

"No sir we can't," Sheppard said.

The memory of that super hive was still all too fresh in mind, even after two months.

"Of course that is just a minimum," Sam added. "There are still a few other toys this ship has."

"Like what?"

"Well for one thing a massive plasma beam," Rodney said.

"How massive?"

"The barrel has a thirty metre diameter and it has a three to ten power ratio when compared to our regular plasma beams."

"So what do you call this big honking space gun?"

"Well since it stores a lot more power than it needs in a capacitor like that Ancient defence satellite we've taken to calling it the Grodin."

"Good choice," Sheppard said solemnly.

"I thought so."

"Ready to here about the rest?" Sam asked.

"There's more?" Sheppard asked, surprised considering the amount of firepower already present.

"It's a big ship that General O'Neill approved of," Sam replied. "Of course there is more."

"Now now Carter, I said to forget rank," O'Neill chastised.

"There is a small missile bay beneath the nose of the ship," Sam explained.

"How small?" Sheppard asked.

"Big enough to hold a few Horizons and the nukes to stock them," McKay replied.

"Cool. So what else?" Sheppard asked.

"Two thousand drones," Sam replied.

"As in ancient drones?"

"Only in appearance," Rodney replied. "They're silver and also glow white. But they don't have the shield phase technology or the high temperature plasma field. They do still make a pretty impressive boom though, and that's it for the weapons."

"How powerful are the shields?" Sheppard asked.

"Well with the two new generators the _Hammond_ will be getting she'll have double her original shield strength," Sam explained. "The _Weir_ on the other hand will have five times that amount."

"So she has powerful shields, a heck of a lot of firepower and is essentially a mobile base," Sheppard summarised. "Don't tell me, she is as slow as heck right?"

"Actually with the new generators the _Hammond_ could reach Pegasus in six days," Sam replied. "The _Weir_ can do the same trip in half the time."

"She sure is one hell of a ship," Sheppard said.

"She is a flying fortress and a great command centre," General O'Neill said, smiling. "That's why I am getting the next one."

They all chuckled at that, everyone knew how much the General wanted a great big space ship, and soon he would have it. Of course it also meant he could get out from behind a desk.

"So when do I get to take her for a test flight?"

"Patience Colonel, there's still someone you have to meet," O'Neill said.

John raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

Jack had a knowing smile on his face, "ISIS."

"Who's Isis, I'm pretty sure she wasn't on the list of crewman you gave me." During the briefing he had been presented with a list of personnel who would be serving on the ship, but he would have thought he would have remembered a name like Isis.

"I'll let Doctor McKay introduce you."

He nodded to McKay, who tapped his headset. "ISIS can you come you join us on the main viewing platform."

"What can I do for you Doctor McKay," said a soft, female, and surprisingly familiar voice behind them.

Sheppard darted round in surprise at the sudden appearance. But he was even more surprised when he found himself looking at FRAN.

He rounded on Rodney, "Rodney I seem to recall a little discussion we had at making replicators."

If it wasn't for the fact that John was glaring at him Rodney would probably be grinning as much as Sam and Jack, as it was his grin was slightly dampened.

"She is not a replicator, and she's not FRAN," he said hurriedly.

ISIS spoke, "Indeed Commander I am not the one you knew as FRAN, however her image was used to create this avatar."

"Okay then what are you?"

"I am an Interactive Ship Interface System, otherwise known as ISIS. I was created to act as a direct link to the ships systems. However I will only accept commands from those with authorisation. As the ships commander you have the highest authorisation so I will accept all your commands."

Sheppard still looked a bit doubtful, which not surprising his experience with intelligent computers hadn't been brilliant. But he knew that he didn't know enough to make this decision by himself so he turned to one person he knew he could not doubt, Rodney.

"Tell me that this is completely safe and that nothing can go wrong."

Rodney replied seriously, "The very core of the programming for ISIS is to obey commands according to authority. In any case the only decisions that ISIS can make without confirmation are those that already exist in the fail-safe systems for the ship. In other words; if a weapon would overload ISIS can abort the firing, if the hull breaches or there is a radiation leak or even an explosion ISIS will close the bulkheads, if the hanger bay door opens while our people are inside ISIS will activate the emergency shields. This core programming cannot be changed or altered even if you order it. Sam and I have done everything to make sure that this is safe, and if it's any consolation this thing is based on the interactive systems of the Asgard Computer Core and we have yet to have any problems with that."

There were some people that Sheppard would assign a certain level of doubt just to be on the safe side, even McKay was one of them on those rare and far between occasions. The Asgard might just scrape their way onto the list when it came to dealing with the replicators, if only because they themselves admitted they lacked the necessary thinking to fight them effectively. However when it came to their programming abilities they were second to none and the Asgard Computer Core was a testament to that ability, as such he was willing to accept ISIS if she had a near enough Asgard seal of approval. Besides even if he was feeling the slightest inkling of doubt he wasn't about to question the programming skills of Earths greatest ally in front of General O'Neill of all people. The man had been a living legend amongst the Asgard to the point where they named the most advanced class of warship they had after him, if it hadn't been for him and his team it was unlikely the Asgard would have been so generous with their most advanced technology. The passing of the Asgard was a recognised loss to the universe, if only by some hope they had found a way to avoid their tragic demise. It was a small mercy that the Asgard had accepted their fate at the end and that they had chosen the path that they had taken but it was still tragic that such a great race was no longer amongst them. What made it worse though was that their cousins the Vanir were in Pegasus, and bore the image of their now gone allies whilst going against the very ideals that had made the Asgard such a great and noble race.

He made up his mind and turned to ISIS with an aura of acceptance for the first time.

"Thank you ISIS, I look forward to working with you."

The AI nodded curtly. "I look forward to serving you Commander," she said before vanishing.

General O'Neill turned to Sheppard. "Well now that we have the introduction out of the way its time to give you what's coming to you."

"Sir?" Sheppard's voice actually shook slightly.

O'Neill grinned, "It's time for your promotion ceremony."

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**Please Review.**


	2. Lets get this show on the road

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Master Sergeant "Gunny" Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. **

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

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Review Responses

**Shadows-of-Realm: Thanks for the correction, i hope others will follow your example. Enjoy the new chapter**

**Scotius: The point i was trying to convey was that they are only using technology they have a grasp of, as of yet they have been unable to understand the information in the database regarding weapons and shields. As such they are using enhanced Asgard shields and their first attempts at drone weapons which, while not as lethal as the ancient drones, are quite powerful in their own right. Also in the time that Atlantis has been in thier possesion for study they have spent most of that time repairing and restoring, so no more flooded corridors.**

**DaniWilder:** **Thank you and I am glad you allowed me to borrow Richards.**

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**Bridge of the **_**Weir**_

After several days of familiarising himself with his new ship, a lot of time discussing mission directives with General O'Neill, going over the list of crewmembers and one promotion ceremony he was finally taking the opportunity to do the one thing he had wanted to do for days, sit in the command chair. He had to say one thing, all the great advances in technology meant nothing if you were stuck sitting in an uncomfortable chair all day. But he had to admit that if he had to be stuck sitting in a chair for the rest of his days of service then he wouldn't mind it being this one.

Around him crewmembers were manning consoles and taking their stations. His chair was positioned in the centre of the room, while around him, forming a trapezium with him at the centre, were four other control stations. To his immediate left was the helm, while on his left was tactical. On his far left was the science station which could access the main sensors for detailed scans as well as the Asgard beams, they also had control of the hanger doors and shields. To his far right was the communications station.

The ship was finally preparing to get under way. Her mission was to go to the Pegasus galaxy and make contact with their allies, and to take the fight to wraith. Of course for a shakedown cruise she would first be making the quick trip to Earth to pick up a few people. Obviously it would have been a simple matter to simply transport the people to Argus through the stargate but it would be a waste of a good opportunity. Besides in the case of one particular person they were picking up a beam up straight to a holding cell was safer than the problem opportunities a trip through the stargate would allow.

ISIS chose that moment to appear in the corner of the bridge. After several days Sheppard was getting used to her sudden appearances, but it was still courteous of her to not suddenly appear right in front of him.

"Commander Sheppard, all stations report ready. Doctor McKay in engineering reports the ships systems are fully operational and my personal diagnostic has come back clean." She paused. "In other words we are ready for launch."

Sheppard smiled. He may have had his doubts at first but the idea of having an interactive interface on call was actually rather handy. It also helped that ISIS was beginning to develop a decent sense of humour, which was always a strong selling point for an AI.

"Thank you ISIS." He pressed the intercom button on his chair arm. "Attention all hands prepare to depart." He turned to his com officer. "Com, signal Argus to open the hanger doors."

"Argus is acknowledging Commander," said the com officer. "Hanger bay doors are opening."

"Helm, take us up."

"Engaging anti-gravity drives, firing ascent thrusters, retracting landing gear," said the helm officer. "Engaging sublight drives."

The roof of the main hanger split in two along its length. The two massive pieces of metal began to slant in numerous places. Each individual segment closed together until they formed a thick chunk of seemingly solid metal against each wall. Once this was done the anti-gravity drives of the _Weir_ kicked in and the ships weight dropped significantly. As the ascent thrusters fired the ship rose off the ground and its landing gear retracted into the base of the ship as she rose out of the hanger. Like a bird first discovering it could fly the ship surged up the main engines kicking in, forcing the ship forwards. The nose of the ship titled upwards as the main engines continued to fire driving the ship higher and higher. The g-forces, that should have left the bridge crew pinned to the back of their chairs and everyone not sitting down thrown across the room, were non-existent after being dissipated by the inertial dampeners. This allowed the ship to achieve phenomenal speeds without danger to the crew and in what seemed to be no time at all she burst out of the planets atmosphere and into the icy vacuum of space.

"Helm, set a course for Earth and take us into hyperspace."

"Aye Sir."

In front of the ship the dimensional barrier as they knew it split at the very seams as a hyperspace window opened in front the ship. Her mighty engines glowing in the black of space she was carried forwards into hyperspace on a course for the birth place of humanity, Earth.

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**A few hours later**

The _Weir_ tore through the dimensional barrier once again as it reappeared in normal space, beneath it was a familiar blue and green planet, Earth. The ship rapidly slowed down the moment it exited hyperspace, manoeuvring into a geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean. Or more specifically over the private island that was acting as a harbour for Atlantis.

"ISIS what's the status report," asked Sheppard.

"All stations are reporting green and all systems are fully operational," replied ISIS.

Sheppard hit the intercom button. "Attention all hands, we have arrived at our destination. We have experienced no difficulties with systems and all stations did their jobs admirably, good work people. Now prepare to receive supplies and personnel from Atlantis. You all know what to do"

Sheppard tapped his personal radio. "Rodney come to the bridge, we're beaming down."

"On the way," was Rodney's short reply.

Given the sheer size of the ship it would normally be a good idea to give someone fair warning that they were needed somewhere. Of course if one of the designers of the ship happened to be a fan of Star Trek and a man who had spent the better part of five years maintaining a flying city then some good ideas were bound to rub off. In this case while turbo lifts weren't an option at this point the idea of an internal transport system was, so using the Ancient's idea of transport booths as a design concept they had constructed multiple booths around the ship that utilised fixed point transporters. This meant that traversing the distance from one end of the ship to another became a thing of ease which was very useful if you were in a hurry.

A few moments later Rodney made his appearance and the two of them beamed down outside the Atlantis conference room where some familiar faces were waiting to greet them.

"Welcome back Doctor, Colonel, congratulations on the promotion." Richard Woolsey stepped forward to greet the pair.

Standing beside him were Ronon, Teyla, newly promoted Lt Colonel Lorne and Doctor Keller-McKay.

"It's good to be back here Mr Woolsey, although it's a shame we won't be taking the city with us." He smiled as he nodded to the others. "Congrats on the promotion Colonel."

Evan smiled back, "Thank you Sir."

While this was going on Rodney had moved to embrace his wife.

"Hey handsome, miss me?" Jennifer asked.

He kissed her lightly on the lips, smiling at the intimate contact. "You bet."

John decided to give them a minute while he said hello to the others then broke them up, they had things to do and they required McKay to be down here and not on cloud nine.

"Okay Rodney we have supplies to load up and a few key items to grab so let's get on with it." He turned back to Woolsey. "We'll load up the supplies first then start moving personnel, that'll leave us with our special guest."

Woolsey nodded. "I understand Colonel. I take it you're just going to grab a few things for the trip."

There was a slight glint in John's eye as he spoke, "Yep. I shouldn't be too long I doubt I'll be taking much, just some essentials."

With that he turned and strode out of the control room.

Stocking the ship up on supplies had been a fairly straight forward task. It had simply involved beaming up numerous crates from the SGC containing all things from medical supplies, to weaponry, to food along with a few special items. Of course they didn't need too much in the way of food as the ship not only had the same food replicators as the Odyssey, and by extension all ships in the earth fleet, it also had botanical and greenhouse areas and a galley. But it was nice to have a few herbs and spices for home cooked meals. The only tricky aspects involved beaming up and installing the Atlantis stargate and a number of puddle jumpers into an empty section of the ship that had been specially converted to act as a gate room. Of course they also took the opportunity to grab the dialling crystal so they could connect to Earth from Pegasus.

Loading up on personnel was proving to be a slightly more difficult task. While it was a fairly simple matter to beam up pretty much the entire Atlantis expedition, save for a few personnel who were staying behind to keep an eye on their precious city, making sure they all got to their quarters through all of the bustling corridors was a different matter entirely. It took a few hours, multiple beaming groups and several requests for directions before everyone finally found where they were supposed to be. Of course the regular personnel were all along for the ride, such as Woolsey, Lorne, Teyla, Ronon, Keller, Zelenka, Carson and newly promoted Sergeant Major "Gunny" Richards. Woolsey was coming along for the ride not as the commander of the expedition but to act as Earths diplomat. He had already shown that he was capable of negotiating with the natives, and more importantly he was a recognised and highly acknowledged person when it came to the Coalition. The man had pretty much saved SGA-1 single handed from the Coalition and at the same time given them a say on the Coalitions future, which is the kind of skill that gets General O'Neill's attention and there were no objections from Sheppard when he found out Woolsey was coming along. It was also useful that as a member of the IOA if Woolsey was kept up to date with what was going on then the less experienced members of the IOA back home couldn't complain they didn't get a say in what happened.

Two notable absences from the personnel list were Chuck and Amelia, Atlantis's well known Control Room technicians, who were staying behind to keep an eye on the city. Given their newly founded relationship people would have expected Ronon to be a little disgruntled at being away from Amelia, and that would have been true if Sheppard hadn't had a private conversation with Ronon via subspace before they arrived at Earth. Now, for some unknown reason, he seemed to be rather accepting of the situation and there were already a number of rumours going round as to what on earth Sheppard had told him. At this point though it was anyone's guess as neither men were saying a word, although it seemed Amelia had been talked to by someone else. Exactly who had talked to her though was just as big a mystery.

* * *

**Atlantis – Stasis Pod Room**

Now that all the supplies were onboard, and the ships crew had all been accounted for, they could at last bring aboard their special guest. Of course guest was using the phrase rather loosely since it was being used to describe their Wraith prisoner Todd. Luckily the special accommodation for him was fairly easy to organise as they were simply transferring him from one stasis pod to another. He had actually been in the stasis pod since they had recovered the two ZPM's and confirmed that they weren't going to explode the moment they plugged them in. Now they were going to transfer him to one of the multiple stasis pods onboard the _Weir_. Pods which would normally be used in an emergency for people who would not otherwise survive long enough for the necessary treatment to become available. By putting Todd in one they were making sure he wouldn't die of hunger because they sure as heck weren't about to feed anyone to him. The idea of feeding him clones had also been taken off the table as their knowledge of the cloning process was not yet advanced enough to guarantee that the clones would not develop even a small amount of consciousness and that was one line they were not willing to cross.

Standing in the stasis room was Sheppard, McKay, Lorne and a couple of burly marines, armed with stunners and P90's. McKay pressed a button on the control panel next to the pod and the wall of ice retracted, uncovering the Wraith encased inside. As the ice fully retracted Todd's knees momentarily buckled due to the surprise of suddenly finding he was conscious again, but he quickly regained control over his lower limbs and rose to his full height. He looked around the room at the assembled party until finally his eyes came to rest on Sheppard.

His deep voice had an echo of a hiss to it as he spoke. "So Sheppard, is it time for a snack?"

Surprisingly Sheppard was actually grinning, "Not yet Todd."

To say Todd was taken back was an understatement. "You mean you actually intend to feed me?"

"Oh there are rules concerning treatment of prisoners here on Earth Todd and one of them is that we have to feed you, but until that time you're just moving to a different room."

Todd deflated and his voice hinted at his annoyance at his predicament, even with guards present he was still cuffed and his feeding hand was covered.

"By room you mean another stasis pod." It wasn't a question just a statement. "How long have I been out?"

"Well done you got it in one and to answer your question about two months, or sixty days to you." Considering the mess they had been forced to clean up thanks to Todd a couple of months back Sheppard figured he was due some ribbing.

Todd mulled this over for a second. "So we're on Earth then, I take it you managed to deal with the hive ship then."

"You'll be happy to hear that it went down with all hands." If they were ever going to agree on one point it was that they were glad to see the back of the Wraith on that particular hive ship. Heck the chance of killing his treacherous second in command was the reason Todd had surrendered the location of the two ZPM's which they had used to power the city.

He tapped his radio. "Beam us up."

In a pillar of white light they disappeared and reappeared in a room filled with stasis pods that were tilted at a slight angle, one of which was already open. The marines prodded Todd as a gesture for him to get in the pod, which he did so, albeit a little reluctantly.

As he settled down in the pod he spoke. "You probably won't answer but I might as well ask anyway. Where are we going?"

Sheppard smiled. "We are taking you home." Then like lightning his hand shot out and pressed a button on the control panel, the stasis pod slid shut and Todd was frozen in place before he could say a word.

Sheppard turned to McKay, "Now that that's out of the way we've got work to do."

* * *

**Atlantis – Control Room**

In a pillar of light appeared Sheppard, Zelenka and McKay along with a large metallic case. The three of them strode over to the main data terminal whilst a couple of nearby technicians carried the case over. They opened the case revealing a large piece of equipment, which had a notably large number of data crystals jutting from its surface. Retrieving a lead attached to the device Zelenka set about connecting it to the terminal while McKay tapped away at the console.

"Rodney the connection has been established," said Zelenka once he was finished.

McKay turned slightly towards Sheppard. "I'm beginning the data transfer now."

"Okay how long till you've copied the entire database?"

"It'll take a few minutes to copy all the files, then about a minute to do a confirmation check. After that we're good to go."

"This sure is one big hard-drive you've built, although I'm surprised it can handle all that data."

Rodney was still tapping away at the console making sure that the information was being properly copied so Radek spoke up.

"It's impressive certainly but not perfect. The way we designed it was to act like a lock box for the data, so unless you transfer the whole lot out of it into a properly designed computer system you can't access individual pieces of information or view what's on the data drive. However the advantage of this is that we can then compress the data being stored so that it all fits inside the drive."

"So if I understand this right then the data is like a letter, so by folding it up you can fit in the envelope."

"That's actually not a bad example," the Czech admitted.

"And now that you understand how it works I'm sure you'll be happy to know the transfer is complete," said McKay.

"That was fast. What about the check?" asked Sheppard.

"That's what I was doing while you two were talking," he said while disconnecting the lead and sealing the case shut.

"You see, I told you that you two make a good team."

McKay just grinned. "Time to finish up then we can hit the road." He tapped his ear piece. "ISIS, beam us to the Core room."

In a pillar of light they once again disappeared only to reappear onboard the _Weir _in a sizable room. Along each of the three walls was a console and screen that were exact duplicates of those in the data core room aboard the Odyssey. Each of these consoles allowed access to the main Data Core which already contained the databases of both the Tau'ri and the Asgard. With the addition of the Ancient database to this large amount of data it would become the largest depository of data in four galaxies.

Zelenka opened the case and connected the lead to a data port on the middle walls console, once this was done ISIS appeared on a small pedestal in the corner of the room.

"Connection to the data drive has been established, shall I proceed with the transfer?"

"Yes, but transfer the data, don't copy," said McKay.

"Of course Doctor," said ISIS.

A few moments later she said, "Transfer complete."

"That was fast," noted Sheppard.

"She operates at an incredibly high speed which means transferring the compressed data is pretty easy. Now we just need to unlock it." McKay turned to ISIS. "Begin data decompression."

"Processing data," said ISIS.

After a couple of minutes she said, "Data decompressed, the Ancient database has been successful integrated into the data core."

"Well now that's out of the way we can get going," said Sheppard as he strode out the room. "Pegasus galaxy here we come."

A few minutes later a hyperspace window opened in front of the ship and the _Weir_ was on her way.


	3. Scheduled Stop

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Sergeant Major Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. **

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**As some of you may have guessed there will eventually be new ships being built. The tricky part is coming up with appropriate names which is very important, so if you have any suggestions send them in and the best will become the names for the new BC - 305 class ships.**

* * *

Review Responses

**Shadows-of-Realm: The Weir was designed to be like a moving fortress and so their base containing all the things they would need to survive in a potentially hostile galaxy, hence the name Pegasus-class. Hopefully Atlantis will return, don't think for a moment the game will take being seperated from the city lying down.**

**DaniWilder:** **Thank you and I am glad you allowed me to borrow Richards. Don't worry about Ronon and Amelia, i am a kind author.**

* * *

**The void**

Between all the galaxies of the universe there was the void, empty space lacking the background of millions of stars that may have actually blinked out of existence a long time ago. Instead the background was filled by the galaxies of the universe with the two brightest of which, and so the nearest to this particular part of the universe, being the Milky Way and the Pegasus galaxies.

In this empty patch of space a hyperspace window opened and spat out the massive bulk of the _Weir_. Her deceleration thrusters kicked in automatically as she exited the window and she came to a sudden stop, unfelt by the crew due to her inertial dampeners. As she came to a halt the energy that had been powering the hyperdrive was rerouted to the currently empty main hanger, an area of the ship nicknamed by the crew as the forge deck. As the capacitors were filled to maximum the industrial beams activated and fired their beams to points predetermined by the design schematics currently loaded into the manufacturing program. In this case the program was loaded with the design schematics for the new Midway II-class station.

It had been as far back as the destruction of the original Midway that people, who mostly consisted of the key personnel of the Atlantis expedition, had been pushing to get the station rebuilt. Unfortunately with attention so focused on upgrading the fleet with Asgard weaponry and building additional ships and outposts the plans for the new station had been put on the back burner. Of course the main reason that the politicians of the IOA used to not authorise the building of the new station was the fact that it would require a ship to spend a large amount of time in the void while construction teams were at work. This meant that a ship that would otherwise be in the Pegasus galaxy fighting the wraith would be spending large amounts of time in the void. Now however they didn't have that problem as the _Weir_ was capable of building the entire station on its forge deck in a week's time.

Given the opportunity they had been given the designers had pushed the design constraints they had to the very limit, and given that the method of construction was industrial beams the design constraints were very generous. The Midway II-class station was almost incomparable to its predecessor, the original had been designed to transfer supplies and allow a few personnel to make the trip between galaxies easily. This new one was on a whole other level entirely, the most obvious of which being the size. The station was over 600 metres long, over 200 metres wide and almost 150 metres high. This seemed an unnecessary size for a station designed to ease gate travel between galaxies, but that was what made the station so different from its predecessor as it was designed as a base between galaxies.

The station did contain the same gate room as the first Midway, only this time both gates would have a shield and an iris as back-up in the case of lack of available power, and it had quarters for crewman, although in this case a lot more crewman, but that was where the similarities ended. To start with the station was powered by six neutrino ion generators. This unparalleled number was to allow the station to perform its primary function of acting as a bridge between two galaxies. With the power provided by these generators the station was able to establish a connection to any stargate in either galaxy without the use of additional gates as relay points. Of course the individual Pegasus and Milky Way gates had had their macros altered to only connect to gates from their respective galaxies. The advantage of such a set up was that you could now transmit a signal through the open wormhole to guarantee the person coming through was a friendly. That way if the wraith or anyone else tried to make a surprise visit they would be met by either a closed iris or a shield if they failed to transmit a valid IDC.

But these generators were not only needed for powering the stargates, as they also provided power to the stations defences. The simplest addition was a shield that was capable of holding twice the charge of that of a Pegasus-class ship when adequate power was supplied affording some protection until support arrived. However in the event those reinforcements were unavailable the station was also equipped with its own weapon systems. These came in the form of sixteen double barrelled railguns, four ion cannon turrets and two APB's on each of the top and underside of the station, with an additional four ICT's and two APB's running along both lengths of the station to cover all the angles. As a precautionary measure the station also had four fighter hanger bays of a similar size to those on a Daedalus-class ship, with two on each length of the station all of which were placed in the middle of the station. The station was also capable of acting as a berth for four battle cruisers as it had four sealable hanger bays, with two situated at each of the long ends of the station. All of these hangers were located more towards what would be called the underside of the station.

With the available power and the necessary resources in storage construction of the station would take a week, which boiled down to being stuck floating between galaxies for a week. When they were soaring through hyperspace the crew of a ship usually had relatively light duties, after all there is only so much you can do when half the ships systems are pretty much unusable due to being in hyperspace, but since they were not in hyperspace they had to find something to do. Thankfully the command crew were not ignorant of how tedious it is manning stations that aren't going to come into play in the space between galaxies and the fact that staring at a blank sensor screen for hours on end will eventually cause peoples brains to shut down almost entirely. So they had thought of some ways to keep the crew busy and so duty shifts were shortened, with the personnel changing over regularly. During these shifts personnel were running checks on all ships systems to see how the ship had faired after travelling so far so fast. Admittedly this wasn't really necessary but at the very least it kept the crew occupied and as the week went past it showed that any worries about the effects of pumping so much energy into the hyperdrive had been for nought.

Of course some people, mainly the science and medical staff, were taking the opportunity to work on a few pet projects while they were undisturbed, one of which was hopefully about to bear fruit.

* * *

_**Weir **_**– Stasis Room**

With a soft hiss of escaping gas the lid of the stasis pod lid open and the wraith inside regained consciousness. He slowly sat up from the tilted bed of the pod, blinking his eyes to clear the tiredness in them as he did so, and looked around, taking in the people before him. Before him was Sheppard, a tall middle aged marine with slightly greying hair with a P90 in his hands and at the ready and Ronon, who had his energy pistol in hand and, no doubt, set to kill.

After spending large numbers of years of his existence in hibernation he had come to know the tell tale signs that his body gave him that signified how long he had been unconscious, not that he would tell the humans, the most usual sign being hunger. As such his body was telling him that he could not have been out for more than a couple of days which meant one of three things; they were not anywhere near the Pegasus galaxy yet and the humans had brought him out of stasis very prematurely, the stasis pod had slowed down his hunger more than he had thought or that they were in Pegasus and the humans had some truly advanced power generators at their disposal to give their hyperdrive the energy they required to make such a trip. Out of the three the second was rather unlikely, as even the stasis pod on Atlantis had only slowed his hunger by so much and it was unlikely he would have been placed in a more advanced version later rather than sooner. Of course either or both of options one and two being true was perfectly plausible, however if both were true then that would mean that he had been deliberately taken out of stasis for some unknown reason. It also begged the question of what they were doing at this unknown location. Sheppard had promised to feed him but the idea that they would willing give him a person to eat was almost laughable, during his first stay with them the only time he had eaten was when that man had sacrificed himself to save his dying daughter. However that did leave some possible reasons as to why he was currently walking around what he assumed to be a ship.

"Sheppard why am I awake?" he asked. Any answer might shed some light on the situation, and besides Sheppard would expect him to ask questions anyway so he had nothing to lose by asking the most obvious.

Sheppard looked at him with a smirk like he was laughing at some private joke.

"We're going to feed you Todd."

"Oh really," he replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes really."

He was beginning to get tired of these games. One of the side effects of hunger was that his patience tended to wear a little thin.

"So who is dying?" He could play along a little longer.

Sheppard looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Who said anyone is dying?"

Todd gave him a grin of his own. "Come now Sheppard you and I both know that the last time I had a human to eat while I was your guest it was only so that I could help save the mans child."

"Yeah well this time no one is dying so we don't need your help to save anyone."

By now they had come to a door which Todd could only assume was their destination given that Ronon had stepped in front of him to stop him from continuing down the corridor. Sheppard reached into his pocket and pulled out what he vaguely recognised as what the humans referred to as an apple. Or was it a pear? When your only source of food is the very life force of humans you tend not to take a note of what the different foods the locals are eating. Even the food consumed by wraith worshippers was gathered by the worshippers themselves. Sheppard tossed the mystery fruit to him which he caught easily despite his restraints.

"Sheppard what is this?" he asked.

"That is food for you to eat. The only kind of food you'll get to eat."

His voice took on a particularly low and distinctly angry tone as he replied.

"Sheppard you know full well that I cannot eat this. You are condemning me to starvation."

"Sure you can. You can chew it, swallow it and even digest it so what's the problem?"

"The problem is that I cannot gain any nutrients from it as my body does not produce the necessary enzymes, as you well know."

"So basically what your saying is that if we could get your body to produce the enzymes you would be all for it and would happily eat the food we give you."

"Yes," he grudgingly admitted

"Then why don't we fix that problem right now."

It was then that Todd realised he walked right into their trap. Hunger and no small amount of anger had blinded him to their seemingly obvious intentions. Not for the first time he cursed the treacherous Wraith that had betrayed him before he even got a chance to feed again. The process used to heal him had left him greatly weakened, and despite the appearance of fortitude he tried to project to others he knew that if he did not feed soon then his body would begin to fail like it had before. The humans might think that it was act in an attempt to get something to eat, but the truth was that his body was as close to failing as it had been when he first met Sheppard in that dingy prison. But despite this fact he was reluctant to let them experiment on him considering the past attempts. Admittedly he could not blame the humans as he had stolen an untested cure and applied it without the knowledge of how to counter any ill effects but he still bore some resentment towards them.

Inside the medical lab were both Doctor McKay's along with Doctor Beckett. Rodney had spent the better part of the last few days connecting the two large disc shaped devices that were attached to both the floor and ceiling to the consoles in the room, while the two physicians confirmed that they were receiving the correct readings. The device was actually the DNA altering machine that had been recovered from Anubis's lab some years ago after they had dealt with what could be called his son. Ever since then the technicians at Area 51 had been working alongside a team of linguists and physicians in an attempt to study the device and eventually modify it. The linguists were needed as the base language used in the device readouts was ancient and so they were working on translating it to English. The physicians were needed so that they could confirm what the linguists were apparently translating by connecting the words to the pictures and making sure they matched what information they had about the test substances.

That work had since been completed and the machine now made a very useful analyzer when it came to determining unique genetic traits as well as active genes. It also made it a lot easier to test to see if an individual had the ancient gene.

The door to the lab slid open and through it stepped Ronon and Sheppard followed by Todd and finally the tall marine that Todd did not know the name of. To the outsider having a lone marine cover the backs of two men against a hungry Wraith would be a bad call, fortunately however that particular marine was Sergeant Major Richards. Richards was one of those people that were not in the spotlight but were nevertheless there in the background keeping an eye on people and had been with the expedition since day one. Over the last few days the ships regular crewmen had been asking expedition members if the Sergeant Major was the same "Master Gunny" Richards they had heard about, to which the answer was yes. The man was greatly respected by those who knew him, and the fact he wasn't actually a commissioned officer only increased their respect once they found out this was because he had always wanted to be in the fight helping his fellow Marines. But despite being one of the silent protectors of Atlantis and the expedition members what really impressed people was the fact the guy could spar with Ronon on an even level. That fact alone really got peoples attention, especially the Marines who had sparred against Ronon at least once. As such there were a lot of people who would consider going down to the lab, with popcorn, on the off chance that Todd actually tried something.

Eventually they had all filed into the room, with Ronon and Richards stationed in front of the door. Todd begrudgingly stepped onto the pedestal, although not without some reluctance. While Carson was finishing connecting up a drip that was connected to a device similar to a morphine machine Todd decided it was about time he tried to get some answers.

"What are you going to do to me?" He glanced at the vile connected to the dosing machine which contained a very familiar looking liquid and growled. "That had better not be that wretched cure."

Hunger was clearly having an effect on him as he was usually able to keep his emotions under control. Of course it probably had a lot to do with the fact that he was about to undergo experimentation by these humans, and that the last time that had happened he had been looking at a painful death and even more painful healing process.

Jennifer who had been working at the machines main console hit a button before turning round and speaking.

"Actually it is," she said.

"WHAT!" A bright light was emanating from the discs and Todd found himself frozen in place, unable to move.

In response to the aggressive outburst both Richards and Ronon raised their respective weapons and pointed them squarely at the Wraiths head. Supposedly the machine would paralyze anyone it was being used on, but that particular trait had never been tested on a Wraith and neither of them was taking the chance.

"Will you calm down for a minute while I direct your attention to the two glowing discs above and below you," said Rodney, stepping between the angry Wraith and his wife.

Todd snarled for a moment before regaining his composure as both Richards and Ronon lowered their weapons at Sheppard's signal.

"Explain."

Jennifer stepped past her husband so she was once again facing Todd.

"The device, which is holding you in place, is an Ancient DNA altering machine. We intend to use it and the gene therapy in combination with one another," said Jennifer.

"Or more specifically we use the DNA machine and then we give you the gene therapy," added Carson.

"And just what part of my DNA are you planning to alter?" asked Todd.

"We intend to remove the part of your DNA that equates to the feeding organ in your hand," said Jennifer.

"Why?" asked Todd. This change of strategy had piqued his curiosity.

"From our research, and the knowledge we have gathered about your species, we learned a little about your life cycle. An important fact being that wraith are capable of eating food before they reach a certain period in their life cycle, what might be called your races puberty."

"How did you come by this information?" asked Todd.

"From a young Wraith we encountered some years ago who was, for a certain amount of time, able to eat food like we would before eventually succumbing to hunger," said Carson. Of course she had not actually been able to properly eat as was eventually proven but since she had gained some partial nutrition before the full hunger set in it gave them something to go on. Some events are of course best left in the past, but you never know which ones might come back and actually do you a favour. It seems that in this case that had been one of the latter.

"We did use that as the basis for the gene therapy in the hopes that we could reactivate the digestive system but that obviously failed," said Jennifer.

"Yes I remember how badly it failed," said Todd.

"Anyway we realised that the problem was that the feeding organs continued presence caused your cancer. Once the feeding organ reaches its fully developed state it appears to completely suppress the digestive system and effectively switches off enzyme production which is crucial to nutrient absorption. While the gene therapy was designed to suppress the feeding organ our scans showed that it only in fact healed over the feeding slit in your hand rather than suppress the organ itself. Since the organ was still active it was competing with your digestive system for dominance, so it was attempting to shut the cells down. But since they were active your regenerative abilities interpreted this as the cells being damaged and attempted to replace them and they grew out of control. Now we can't simply cut it out or your regeneration abilities will simply replace it and we will be back to square one. But if we use the machine to remove the feeding organ DNA then we can use the gene therapy and reactivate your digestive system without it causing the cancer as a side effect."

To Todd, despite his lack of expertise in the field of medicine, this all seemed perfectly rational thinking.

"How will you know which parts of my DNA to remove? I would prefer not to use the trial and error method," said Todd.

"We compared your DNA samples with and without the gene therapy. Using this machine we were able to determine that the feeding organ DNA was successfully targeted but reactivated almost immediately. Thankfully the device was able to record which DNA strands were deactivated and so we know what to target," said Jennifer.

"What about my other abilities?" asked Todd.

"Eat your vegetables like a good lad and you should stay nice and healthy," said Carson.

"What my colleague is trying to say is that if you eat enough food and get enough nutrients you should be able to regenerate just as well as you do now. Since your longevity is tied into your regeneration it should remain unchanged, once again provided you get enough food. Oh and since your telepathy is purely mental based there is no reason that should be affected in the least bit," said Jennifer.

Given his options Todd could only come to the conclusion that this was the lesser of two evils. If it was a choice between death and a little genetic alteration then it was no choice at all for a survivor like him.

"Alright I accept," he said.

"Well now that he's on board with it let's get started," said Sheppard. There were times when Todd would have liked nothing better than to slap the arrogant smirk off of Sheppard's face, and this was one of them.

Jennifer moved back to the main control console. The task itself was fairly easy to execute. The machine had been pre-programmed to target and remove the unwanted DNA strands, in this case those of the feeding organ. Once this was done they would then dose him with the gene therapy which would reactivate his immune system. To minimize the risk of failure they needed to confirm that the DNA had been completely removed before they gave him the gene therapy, but they wouldn't wait long as it was safer to give him the gene therapy sooner rather than later.

"I'm activating the machine now," said Jennifer. "DNA strands have been targeted. Carson, stand by to administer the gene therapy."

"Standing by, just say the word," said Carson, who was standing beside the dosing machine.

"DNA strands are being removed."

Todd's face was a picture of turmoil. She didn't need to say it, he could feel it happening. He could feel the organ disintegrating out of existence and it wasn't exactly pleasant. It felt strange, not painful, but somehow not right. It was like a part of him was missing and he didn't mean the organ, it was almost like his body knew that it had been robbed of his ability to attain sustenance.

Jennifer's words came quickly. "DNA strands have been completely removed. Carson, do it."

"Applying gene therapy," said Carson. He pressed a button on the machine, which had already been set to administer the maximum dose, and the entire vial flooded into Todd's system.

Suddenly the feeling of wrongness disappeared as his digestive system reactivated and he could once more he could gain sustenance. He could feel parts of his body that he had not felt in thousands of years since they had shut themselves down. His organs were not the only things to change, as even though he could not see it he could feel the feeding slit on his hand knitting itself shut just as it had before. But this time he was not struck by pain, a sure sign that there were no side effects.

"The procedure is complete," said Jennifer. "I'm turning off the device."

As the machine shut down the light vanished and Todd found he was able to move again. Sheppard stepped forward and undid the manacles, while Richards and Ronon kept their weapons raised in case he tried anything, revealing the lack of a feeding slit on Todd's hand. At his signal that the procedure had worked they lowered their weapons.

"Congratulations Doctors the operation was a complete success," he said before turning back to Todd. "Now time to get you some food. So if you'll follow your designated escorts they will direct you to the mess hall."

By the time the procedure had been completed so had the construction of the space station. Construction crews had already completed the work on the generators and they had been installed along with the two stargates they had picked up from the SGC, which had been reprogrammed accordingly. Also the fighter hangers were filled to capacity by fighters built and assembled on the _Weir_. The station was now floating in the void having moved out of the hanger of the _Weir_ under the power of its own thrusters.

They had already run a systems test that had included dialling the SGC to inform them of the completion of the station. Now the SGC had dialled to the station for the very first time and the personnel that would man the station were pouring through the open stargate.

As the last of the personnel and supplies filled the station the _Weir_ turned towards the Pegasus galaxy. Meanwhile Todd was in the mess hall tucking into a three course meal consisting of chicken soup, steak and chips with corn on the cob on the side and chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream while Ronon and Richards kept a watchful eye on him and anyone near him. Just before she entered hyperspace, as the ship turned about, Todd was treated to an excellent view through the window of the newly completed Midway II-class station _Valley Forge_.


	4. Back in the neighbourhood

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**As some of you may have guessed there will eventually be new ships being built. The tricky part is coming up with appropriate names which is very important, so if you have any suggestions send them in and the best will become the names for the new BC - 305 class ships.**

* * *

Review Responses

**Scotius: I classed the station as Midway II because the current station goes beyond a simple bridge between galaxies, but i wanted to note the importance of the previous station as it was the first space station the SGC built. The design of this station also means that there could be numerous others**** placed around any number of planets in either galaxy to act as outposts, both for military or non-military uses. As for the Tria, at this point i will say that it is much closer to the Pegasus Galaxy and as such would be the gangs job to go and get it. At the moment they only have the two ships available so wait and see. Hopefully this next chapter will better explain my reasons why i am leaving it for now.**

**DaniWilder and Shadows-of-Realms:** **Thank you. I hope you both enjoy the next installment. Remember the competition, the best names get slapped on the hulls of brand new ships.**

* * *

**Pegasus Galaxy – M35 117 **

The planet was one that, for some unknown reason, had not been gifted with a stargate by the ancients. One theory was that this was due to the large snake like creature that inhabited the main land. Another theory was that this was because the planet itself had in fact at one point had a stargate but it was placed on a city ship that had later on been relocated. This was the more popular theory as the planet featured a large ocean which was why the expedition had chosen to relocate there when the Asurans attacked _Atlantis_. Water was after all the easiest thing for a city ship to safely land on providing that there aren't any major breaks in the hull. Leaks could be kept under control to the point where you would only lose a single level at the very most, but holes on several lower levels and the whole city would eventually sink like a stone.

There were five moons circling the planet but only two could be seen from the surface. It was when these moons were becoming visible over the now empty ocean, which had once supported _Atlantis_ on its calm surface, that a hyperspace window tore open and out of it flew the massive bulk of the _Weir_.

"Anything noteworthy on sensors?" asked Sheppard from his command chair.

"No ships or power signatures are being detected within sensor range," said the tactical officer.

"Readings from the planet and moons match last recorded scans, everything seems normal," said the science officer.

"So that's a no then," said Sheppard. "Right, now that's taken care of lets get out of here shall we. Helm next stop please."

"Yes Sir."

* * *

**A little while later - Unknown Planet**

Above the planet a hyperspace window tore open and out of it came the _Weir_.

"Anything noteworthy on sensors," asked Sheppard.

"No ships detected. A few low emission power signatures detected on the planet, all consistent with previous scans," said the tactical officer.

"Several thousand life signs are being detected on the planet mostly spread around a central area. Population estimates are within expected borders," said the science officer.

"Com, signal my team and Mr Woolsey to meet me in the jumper bay." Sheppard turned to second in command and he rose from his seat. "Lorne you have the bridge."

"Yes Sir," replied Lorne.

Woolsey and his team met him in the jumper bay inside the ship. His team were kitted out with their regular off world gear. Woolsey meanwhile was wearing the same uniform he had in his days commanding Atlantis, even though he could have worn one of his business suits, as he still considered himself to be a part of the expedition as did everyone else who had come to call the city home. In fact everyone who had come from the city to the _Weir_ still wore the same uniform as they always had done. It was a part of the belief that the city would eventually be returning home to where it belonged. Hopefully that would be true.

Once they were all aboard the jumper, with Sheppard at the helm, they signalled the _Weir_ to open the lower and outer hatches. The jumper bay was situated near the front of the ship in a specialised hanger, and as such the only way out of the ship was down through a hatch set into the floor and through another storage hanger below the jumper bay. Because the hatches led directly to outer space the _Weir's _crew had to depressurize both hangers and open the hatches themselves for safety reasons, in other words there were no controls for doing this inside the jumper itself.

As the hatches slid open the jumper dropped gently through the hangers, as they lowered quickly through the other hanger they were able to glimpse vague metallic shapes inside a room set up not unlike a smaller version of the jumper bay on a city ship. Before they knew it they had left the ship and were in outer space staring directly and the seemingly gigantic planet before them.

Using his mind to extend the engine pods outwards Sheppard urged the small craft forwards through space and into the planets atmosphere. As the ship fought against the planets gravity, the pilot only allowing it to be gently dragged down to an acceptable altitude, the surface of the planet came close enough to make out the individual trees they passed over. The jumper surged forwards over valleys, woods and high hills, moving at high speeds, its destination quickly becoming visible. Past a growing village and over a large hill a solitary tower was situated in a large clearing came into view and bore a striking resemblance to the control tower of Atlantis. As they approached closer they saw that the tower was slightly overgrown with vines which were evidently being stripped away, bit by bit, to reveal the shining metal underneath. The ground around the tower showed clear signs of excavation work as huge amounts of earth had been dug up and removed. To allow people to traverse the massive, deepening and expanding ditch around the tower long wooden rope bridges had been erected at compass points. The bridges all seemed to converge at what once might have a viewing platform circling the entire perimeter of the tower.

As the jumper came closer it hovered over the towers jumper bay roof entrance. Inside the jumper McKay tapped a few commands on his tablet and the entrance opened to allow them access. The jumper lowered into the bay and came to rest in one of the alcoves. It wasn't hard to find a parking space as all of the alcoves were empty except one, which contained a single large item covered by a dust sheet. By the time they grabbed their gear and opened the rear hatch a welcome party had already assembled to meet them. The welcome party consisted of three men wearing the same black uniforms they saw the last time they visited the planet. This time however instead of whips attached to their belts they had sheathed short swords. One of the men stepped forward, the bronze symbols on his shoulders indicating him to be of a higher rank than the other two, and greeted them.

"I am Captain Tovar. Welcome back to Kolumnar people of the Tau'ri."

Woolsey, the appointed Tau'ri representative for diplomatic missions, stepped forward.

"It is good to be here Captain. Is Minister Petra available to see us?"

"Of course, I shall take you to her office at once," replied Tovar.

He turned and led the way out the jumper bay and down to the control room. The Minister's office was located in the same place as the commanders of _Atlantis_ had been. Hardly surprising seeing as the city ship _Kolumna_ was an exact duplicate of _Atlantis_. In fact after a little redecorating the control room actually looked a lot like the one in _Atlantis_. Where a control chair once stood now stood the planets stargate which had been transferred down from orbit over the planet and fitted in the control room. They had even gifted the people of Kolumnar with a naquadah generator, inside a reinforced lock box so that no one could tamper with it, to power the lights and jumper bay entrances.

A lot had changed since their first visit several years ago. It was hard to believe that in such a short space of time the peoples lives had changed so much, but they had and for the better. Before they had come the villages were going hungry, forced to give half their harvest to the oppressive monarchy that ruled over them. Now the fruits of the harvests were spread evenly amongst the people, and as a result the people were stronger and happier. The population was also increasing as the medicines they had traded for allowed for treatment of the illnesses that would have otherwise killed the villagers. But the biggest difference in their lives had been the stargate. They now had a knowledge of how to use the device and a list of friendly planets from the Tau'ri, and by friendly they meant people who they had had good relations with and would not take advantage of them by, for instance, trying to steal the city ship out from underneath them. This might have been a rather cruel outlook towards the Genii but the Tau'ri were not the only ones to think so, as the people of Larris had found themselves sharing a similar outlook after they discovered they were being cheated by them.

As they entered her office Minister Petra rose from behind her paper strewn desk to greet them with a smile.

"My friends it has been to long. What brings you back to our little planet?" she asked.

"We were in the neighbourhood and thought we would drop by and see how some old friends were doing," said Sheppard returning the smile.

"Oh is that all, well I can tell you we are doing quite well. In fact the people of Larris are supporting our role to join the Coalition, so thank you for introducing us," said Petra.

"Don't mention it, how is Harmony by the way?" asked McKay.

Ever since that little trip to the temple McKay and the queen of Larris seemed to get along quite well, probably because the two of them enjoyed teasing Sheppard about the famous portrait showing him cowering behind Harmony and a gun totting McKay. A portrait which had since been replaced by one showing the three of them standing nobly with mini drones flying around them. After all she could only hold a grudge for so long considering John had actually helped save her life. But the original was still around, stored in a private room for whenever Harmony needed to cheer herself up. She could still, to this day, remember the priceless look on Johns face when it was unveiled.

"The Queen is doing quite well, of course if you will be attending the Coalition meeting next week you will see her for yourselves," she answered.

"Well hopefully we can make it, can I assume you'll be there?" said Woolsey.

Petra shook her head, "No, we have not been gifted with the knowledge of the location yet. Of course I expect that we will only learn it if our application had been approved, in which case we will only learn of it next month."

The location for the monthly Coalition meeting never actually changed, it was in fact the same place where the team had had their trial. The underground complex had been built in secret on Keltona, a planet that had no native populace and so was ignored by the Wraith. The Tau'ri knew of the location and they knew of the date of the next meeting, which was in a few of days, and usually there was a confirmation message sent to the planet of each member to remind them a day in advance.

"Well we wish you the best of luck with that," said Woolsey.

"Thank you for that, now will that be all or is there another reason you all came here?"

The reason that Petra had been able to gain power was that the people of Kolumnar had learnt of democracy and decided to vote on a leader. The prestige she had gained amongst her people for her willingness to fight for their freedom from oppression during Ortho's grab for power had almost assured her election. But what had allowed her to keep power was the fact that she had proven to be a strong leader and a devious negotiator. It also helped that she was an excellent planner and a woman with foresight, traits honed after years of knowing that the survival of your village depends on guaranteeing one good harvest after another. These were also traits not uncommon in her people as a whole which helped make them an upcoming people as a whole. One of her first acts was to get the individual villages to collaborate in working on the next harvest. Her second act had been to task numerous people to delve into the scrolls and records of the late chamberlains and begin teaching the children, and others, to increase their knowledge base. In the past her people had always been forced to give half their harvest to the royals, but now that the royals weren't royalty anymore they had the chance to trade with other civilisations and that meant bartering. Outsiders might expect them to be very bad at this but what they failed to take into account was that the villages would have to trade with one another to get the things they needed to have a successful harvest. After so many years of having their hard work taken from them for practically nothing Petra expected to get nothing less than what they deserved for their goods. As a result people hoping to convince her that her items weren't that valuable but were still wanted found themselves faced with an immovable rock. This seemed to be one of the times when people had made the mistake of underestimating her.

"Well we would be interested in a little light trading," said Woolsey. The pleasantries were nearing an end and it was time for the two negotiators to step into the ring.

"And we would need to know what it is you want and what you have to offer," said Petra.

"We would be interested in acquiring the control chair, as we understand you no longer have any use for it. We would of course be willing to give you some more medical supplies in exchange."

"But clearly you do have some use for it or you would not want it. Since our first trade was for the drone weapons I can only presume you need it for reasons relating to them. However I cannot let you have it merely for medical supplies, not with the current threat."

"Threat?" enquired Woolsey. This was certainly news to them as everyone looked surprised at her words.

"So far we have not been culled by the Wraith. However we do believe we will not be so lucky in the future. It is in fact one of the reasons I ordered that we begin the excavation of _Kolumna _as I am sure you noticed."

"But surely you realise that even if you dig out the city that won't protect you from the Wraith," said McKay.

"You are right Doctor, however uncovering the city may allow us to find something that might. Besides since I know that your people live in a similar city you must know how to use the technology and might be interested in whatever we find. You might even be interested in the city itself someday. I know that my people do not have the knowledge to properly use it other than as a place to live but you do," replied Petra. They had to admit the woman certainly had foresight. A second city ship would certainly be a nice thing to have, especially one which had already proven to be in pretty good condition in terms of its major systems.

"What you are saying is that you want is a defence against the Wraith and then you will trade us the control chair," said Woolsey.

"If you can provide that then we will indeed have a deal."

"Well I think this is the point that I turn things over to our military leader," said Woolsey, turning to look at Sheppard. "So Colonel Sheppard what can we offer these people?"

Sheppard thought for a moment before he replied. "Okay, how does this sound? We can give you a way to detect the Wraith if they ever make an approach to the system, that way if they ever head your way we can send a ship to intercept."

"Can you explain this detection method to me please?" asked Petra.

Rodney stepped forward at this point. "Basically we put a series of satellites around your star system. These will then allow us to scan for Wraith vessels and will warn us if any happen to approach, and once we get the warning we can then send a ship which should arrive in no time," he explained.

"Can you not give us some other defences against the Wraith, some of your weapons perhaps?" Petra enquired. She was slightly reluctant to put the fate of her people in the hands of others, even if these particular people had freed them from oppression.

Sheppard shook his head. "Sorry but we don't give our weapons to anyone, and in all fairness you've never had fire arms before. We can give you a warning system if they should turn up."

They all knew that lethal weapons were available from select groups around the galaxy but they weren't about to go about arming people, especially people who had no experience when it came to fire arms.

Petra nodded her head in understanding, "I understand your reluctance to give people weapons so thank you for your honesty. However if that is the case then I must ask one small thing of you."

This was something they had rather expected but that didn't mean they liked it, especially when the deal was so close to being finalised.

"Ask away," said Woolsey, ever the negotiator.

"I understand that you have some influence in the Coalition, and I would like to ask that you try to help our application go through," requested Petra.

Pegasus galaxy politics, like all politics, was a complicated thing and people knew that the Genii played a major part in it. As such if someone who refused to trade with the Genii was supporting an application to join the Coalition you can bet that they were going to make some attempt to block it. In fact the main reason that the people of Larris even got in to begin with was because they were a strong people with many resources at their disposal and traded with a great many important people, the Tau'ri included. Still that didn't mean the Genii wouldn't try to stop them from getting more friends into the Coalition.

"I can assure you will do whatever we can to support your application," said Woolsey.

"In the mean time what say we get some protection for your planet organised," added Sheppard. "Of course I am sure you'll want to see it happen so care to take a trip up to our ship?"

"Using your puddle jumper?" asked Petra.

"Transporter's quicker," replied Sheppard.

Petra grinned, she had been there when they beamed the stargate into the control room, it was an impressive sight and she had often wondered what it was like.

"Will it take long?"

"It'll be done before you know it," said Sheppard.

"Then allow me a moment to inform Tovar and we can go," replied Petra.

* * *

Informing Tovar took but a moment and they were quickly beamed up to the bridge of the Weir, while the puddle jumper was beamed back into the jumper bay using the ships powerful beaming technology. When they reappeared Petra's eyes were like saucers as she looked around the bridge and then out the forward viewport to see her planet below.

"It truly is an amazing sight," she said.

"Indeed it is," said Sheppard before switching into Commander mode. "Com, signal the satellite deployment teams that they have a go to launch."

The plans for setting up a detection grid around a star system had already been predetermined and the pilots knew what to do.

"Deployment teams are acknowledging and will be launching shortly," said the com officer.

"Helm, when the shuttles are in position take us to satellite one's location," said Sheppard.

"Aye Sir," said the helm officer.

On each hanger wing the larger doors of the middle hangers split in two and slid open. From each of them soared four support ships that spread out to head out in different directions. Once they were all on course the ships immediately went into hyperspace but only making a relatively short jump.

The ships were the newly completed transport shuttles or the TS-01 class. Although classed as shuttles the ships were actually a good deal larger than an Al'kesh being 50 metres long, 25 metres wide and 15 metres tall. The ships were actually shaped like an emerald, with flat panels making up the exterior hull instead of curved surfaces. There were two large doors on the front sections of the ship while the front of the ship itself sloped downwards and curved inwards at the slides marking the jutting pointed bridge of the ship. The inner layout was actually quite similar to an Al'kesh. The two doors each led to side cargo bays which connected to a wide corridor running down the length of the ship connecting the bridge, creating a tuning fork shape with the bridge at its tip, to the ring room at the back of the ship, which in turn connected to the engineering section via two doors at each end of the back of the room. In the cargo bays long slightly padded shelves that folded into the walls could easily double as bunks for crewmen and in the corner of both cargo rooms there was a closet bathroom that doubled as a shower. The design was the product of years of research and technical understanding compiled together to create this entirely earth built vessel. As part of the standard design the ship had a relatively low tech hyperdrive, making it as fast as an Al'kesh, and shields that could be turned into a cloak with the press of a button. In addition there was a pair of twin X-699 type energy weapons mounted on the base of the ship that rose into a compartment in the hull when the ship was landing. All of these systems were powered by a Mark II naquadah generator with two Mark I's as back up. The bridge command chair was situated at the back in a small indent, hence the tuning fork shaped corridor running down the ship. At the front of the ship, directly before the large window, were two control stations. On the right was helm control while on the left was the tactical station. Both consoles were fitted with sensor screens and controls to activate the cloaking device.

The ships soon exited hyperspace a fair distance away from the system and reappeared on the _Weir_'s deep space sensors.

"Sir all ships have arrived at their designated locations, taking us into hyperspace," said the helm officer.

The ship made a quick jump through hyperspace and reappeared below one of the shuttles.

"Keep your eye on that shuttle, it's about to deploy one of the satellites," said McKay.

The rings on the shuttle activated sliding out of the bottom of the ship into empty space. As the middle of the cluster glowed with light the satellite was transferred from the ship to empty space, the light faded and the rings retracted leaving only the satellite behind. It was quite long, probably ten metres, and was a cylinder shape with a rounded top and a flat base. The satellite's themselves were designed to act a sensor relay, transmitting the data to a specific receiver, in this case the _Weir_ or the _Kolumna_. Each satellite had been constructed to use deep space sensors, like those on _Atlantis_, as well as a subspace transmitter and a Mark II naquadah generator. The satellites also used stealth technology to hide them from detection from sensors and were painted like the 302s to protect against visual detection. This was actually so effective that you were unlikely to spot them from a distance unless you had the ways of detecting them that the Tau'ri did, such as searching for the specific subspace signal.

While Sheppard gave orders for the other shuttles to meet them back at the planet McKay activated the HUD on the viewport and brought up the sensor data they were receiving. The image showed the solar system they had just left, with the satellites marked by red dots around the system in an octagon shape. It was apparent just how far from the system they were as it only appeared as a small dot on the sensor screen with the satellites spread a great distance from it.

"We have set up 8 satellites around the system. Each of these satellites provides a very large amount of sensor cover meaning that if one of them is knocked out for some reason or another then it doesn't leave a gap. Of course we will repair or replace it if that happens so that we get the maximum possible coverage," he explained.

"Your technology is very impressive, thank you for putting this in place," said Petra.

"Your welcome," said McKay.

Sheppard stepped forward. "Well now that the satellites are in place why don't we get you home."

"Yes I should get back to my people," agreed Petra.

* * *

**Two days later - M35 117**

After dropping Petra off at her planet the _Weir_ had returned to M35 117. The _Daedalus_ had also met them at the planet and was undergoing the final installations of her new upgrades. These upgrades mainly consisted of two neutrino ion generators as the primary power source and give the ship a much needed power boost. Additional upgrades consisted of a cloaking device, the Asgard equivalent of food replicators and hologram technology, allowing the Commander of the ship to communicate easily with someone without actually leaving the ship.

The stargate that they had beamed up from _Atlantis_ was fully operational and capable of receiving wormholes directed at the planet so long as the ship was in orbit. They had made contact with the Athosian's and had even traded a few supplies with them. However they had not yet received the regular meeting reminder from the Coalition, which was surprising. Possibly their absence last month had raised some eyebrows and they had been assumed missing. Either way it didn't matter as they were going to pay the Coalition a visit, and on that thought the _Weir_ entered hyperspace.


	5. Guess who's back

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Sergeant Major Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. **

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**As some of you may have guessed there will eventually be new ships being built. The tricky part is coming up with appropriate names which is very important, so if you have any suggestions send them in and the best will become the names for the new BC - 305 class ships.**

* * *

Review Responses

**Shadows-of-Realms: You will find out about Caldwell shortly. As for Harmony i can only apologise for the confusion but i guess that is the result of having to make up a name for a planet. That fog should clear by the end of this chapter though so all i can say is keep reading.**

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**Keltona – Coalition Council Meeting - Present **

"You are late actually," said Shiana. Although if her tone was anything to go by she was more annoyed that they had shown up at all.

"Sorry about that, for some reason we didn't get the regular memo, but we thought we would swing by on the off chance." He looked around at the assembled group. "Looks like we were lucky."

Dimas raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I am sorry to hear of that. But we will make sure that it does not happen again."

"I am sure it was merely an oversight, possibly due to your absence last month," added Kelore. Clearly he was fishing for information while trying to point out he had nothing to do with it.

"We must apologise for that," said Woolsey. "We had a matter to deal with that took up much of our time and forced our absence, but it should not happen again."

"We are glad to here of that," said Harmony, smiling at the group.

"I hope this matter has not caused you any serious problems," said Ladon. He was no fool, as he knew that anything that weakened the Tau'ri strengthened the Genii's position in the Coalition.

"Nothing we couldn't handle," said Sheppard. "However we would like to give a demonstration that we still have the ability to fight the Wraith as promised."

"What sort of demonstration?" asked Dimas.

"With your permission we'll take you up to our ship and intercept some cruisers," said Sheppard. "If you are willing to come then please stand."

The first to stand were Harmony, Dimas and Kelore. Ladon followed quickly after and most likely he was eager to see what he could gleam from the demonstration. Finally Shiana, after seeing the other members of the council rise and realising she would have to go along with this, rose from her seat. But despite this she was clearly hesitant about doing, no doubt because she simply did not trust them.

"Wonderful," said Sheppard, before tapping his earwig. "Beam us up."

In a flash of light they disappeared and reappeared on the _Weir_'s large forward observation gallery, chairs and table included. Even though they all knew of the Tau'ri's seemingly magical technology they were still surprised to suddenly find themselves in outer space. Seeing someone suddenly appear was one thing, but experiencing it first hand was another. Before they even had time to ask questions the view of open space disappeared as the ship entered hyperspace.

"It'll take us about an hour to reach our destination, in the mean time I suggest that we continue with the meeting," said Woolsey.

Hearing no objections he took his seat and continued, "Then shall we begin?"

Throughout the meeting several issues had been raised and dealt with, mainly these involved who could supply what items that people required, and in the case of medical supplies this gap was usually filled by the Genii and Tau'ri. However some matters arose regarding relocation of peoples to other planets after rather vicious and repetitive cullings by the Wraith. The issues of planets being allowed to join the Coalition however would have to wait as they had arrived at their destination.

Sheppard and his team arrived back at the observation deck just as they came out of hyperspace. Before them was just empty space, but the ship turned around on its axis as if they were expecting something to happen and were turning to get a better view.

They didn't have to wait long as, on their left and just a little a little below them, a hyperspace window opened and five Wraith cruisers emerged in an spear head formation, at 500m long and with their organic arrow shaped design they were an intimidating sight. The surprising thing was that the Wraith made no attempt to alter their heading or, for that matter, showed any signs that they were acknowledging the _Weir_'s presence in the systems outskirts.

"Why are they not attacking us?" asked Shiana angrily. Clearly she suspected some sort of allegiance between the Tau'ri and the Wraith cruisers.

Ladon however was happy to show his superior knowledge, gleamed from past dealings with the Tau'ri, and said, "Because they cannot see us, to the Wraith we are completely invisible." He turned to Sheppard for confirmation.

"Ladon is right. To the Wraith we are not here, said Sheppard. "Not yet anyway."

With enough raw power at their disposal and a specially built cloaking device they were able to extend a cloaking field around the entire ship. This gave them a whole new method of attack to fight the Wraith. It also allowed them to better hide their presence in a system while not having to make a retreat.

Sheppard tapped his earwig. "Colonel Caldwell you may precede."

In his ear he heard Caldwell reply, "Copy that."

The _Daedalus_ had been in the _Weir_'s hanger the entire trip and once she had arrived the ship had exited the hanger and moved into position, awaiting the arrival of the Wraith cruisers. Once the cruisers had arrived, they shortly received permission to attack, and attack they did.

The ship de-cloaked at the back of the arrow head formation, to the immediate surprise of the Wraith manning the cruisers. The formation immediately tried to scatter and turn to face the threat but just as they were beginning to move they realised it was already too late.

The second the _Daedalus_ had dropped cloak she had launched a single Mark IX gatebuster nuke at the lead cruiser. With no darts to intercept or oncoming defensive fire the missile continued on unheeded until eventually it connected with the back of the cruiser. When contact was made it was as if a sun had enveloped the back of the cruiser, then as suddenly as it had appeared, the blinding sphere of light vanished and all that remained the burnt husk of a dead and disintegrating cruiser. Radiation had flooded the ship killing the crew and poisoning the very cruiser itself. Secondary explosions were still spreading along the hull of the ship ending any chance of the cruiser regenerating. But that wasn't the worst of it. The nuclear blast had reached so far out that it had also managed to touch the two cruisers flanking their ally. Both of these cruisers had already been turning in an effort to face their attacker and so had only been scorched by the blast, but even light burns still hurt an organic hull. One cruiser, quite possibly the luckier of the two, had the side of its hull burned through by the heat and radiation. As a result numerous Wraith drones had been sucked out into space before the affected area was sealed off. The other had been turning at such a sharp angle that its right engine pod was been hit, leaving nothing behind but a burnt out a stump and forcing the cruiser to veer slightly to the right at the sudden loss of thrust on one side.

Carnage had already been wreaked on the cruisers despite the fact that two had been untouched by the initial assault, but this lucky streak quickly came to an and as the crew of the battle cruiser got serious and fired the main beam weapons. Four lances of burning blue plasma shot through space at each of the remaining cruisers. Each blast had been specifically aimed and barrelled into the cruisers main power core. As the blasts hit the power cores on the ships went up in pillars of flame tearing through the hulls of the ships. If the initial damage from the plasma beam hits had been lethal the secondary explosions were fatal. The power cores eruption sent blast waves throughout the ships incinerating anything they came in contact with. When the blast waves reached the dart bays the individual darts all went up providing more fuel to the flames.

When the explosions finally stopped all that was left were small fragments of hull pieces that made up the thin debris field that had once been a small fleet of cruisers. Meanwhile the Daedalus had remained unscathed throughout the relatively short conflict, her shields raised but undamaged due to a lack of received enemy fire.

Having successfully neutralised the enemy the battle cruiser turned about and made its way back to the _Weir_'s hanger to be given a lift back and to analyse the new systems effectiveness in combat. So far it looked like they had been working perfectly.

* * *

Back on the observation deck the members of the council were looking on in awe at what they had just witnessed. A group of 5 Wraith cruisers had been decimated in no time at all by a ship that was small in comparison. What was even more shocking was that the Tau'ri vessel had only fired a few shots to take out the entire fleet and made it that much more impressive.

Ladon couldn't believe what he was seeing. Even though he knew the Tau'ri had some impressive technology and that there nuclear bombs were much more powerful than their own, he hadn't expected this. Not only had they demonstrated they possessed launch capable nuclear bombs of devastating power but they had also shown that they had weapons that were even more fearsome. While he realised that nuclear missiles could be shot down and intercepted these beams of energy could not be blocked so easily and were of an equal, if not greater, power as the nuclear weapons seen. If such a ship could so easily take down a fleet of cruisers how easily would it fair against a hive? Would it be able to take on more than one? Two maybe? Perhaps even three? And this was just the one ship, and clearly they had more than one as he was currently standing on another. The possibilities of what the Tau'ri could do with such ships were frightening and awe inspiring. With such ships they could fight the Wraith on their own terms. They would not have to wait for the Wraith to approach a planet before attacking as they could hunt the Wraith down and fight them in the cold depths of space as they had done here. But despite all of this there was still hope for his people. One thing he had learned in his years of dealing with the Tau'ri was that they had at their disposal limited numbers of troops to use. But the Genii were a military society which means that a great number of their people were soldiers, especially in recent years, as many had joined in the hope of fighting the Wraith. A hope which had, in recent years, become closer to becoming a reality with their development of nuclear weapons.

Shiana on the other hand was dealing with an entirely different problem. She had just witnessed the weapons of the Tau'ri first hand and knew they were not the same weapons as had been used against her people. While she had first claimed that she accepted the Tau'ri's story that it was the Asuran's that had attacked her village she still had her doubts, just as she had doubted that they were fighting the Wraith at all. But seeing the weapons used here she realised that these were not the same weapons that had been used against her village. She realised now that they had been telling the truth when they said it was another party, the Asuran's, at work, and even though they had admitted that they had unintentionally unleashed the replicators they had at least admitted it. When she had first heard that she had thought they were merely trying to divert the blame elsewhere, but since it now seemed to be true then it proved they were at least honest people. If they were not then they would not have admitted that they were the ones who unknowingly unleashed them upon the galaxy. She might still harbour some ill feelings towards them for this but at least she knew they had not tried to deceive them and had admitted to what they did.

She turned to glance at Ladon thoughtfully. If the Tau'ri had been honest about the replicators then they may have been honest about other things as well, such as what they claimed really happened when they first encountered the Genii.

It was finally Kelore that broke the silence.

"A most impressive demonstration Colonel," he said. Finally, he thought, there is someone who can take on the Wraith.

"Your technology certainly is impressive," added Dimas.

He had always acknowledged that his own people were not as advanced technologically as others and such things that might seem wondrous to him might seem common place to others. However he knew when he was looking at something truly remarkable and this was certainly one of them, as no one in the long history of the Pegasus galaxy, save for the Ancestors, had been known to inflict such damage on the Wraith so easily.

"Yes it is," said Woolsey. "Well, now that the demonstration is over I believe we still have business to conclude. I believe that there is still the matter of acceptance into the Coalition to be considered for the Kolumnarians. Looking at the facts we have no objections to their joining, providing they abide by the Coalition rules."

One of the things that the Tau'ri insisted upon their joining was that certain rules be enforced upon the member worlds. These quite simply boiled down to not attacking each other or committing crimes against a fellow member world as well as lending aid in times of need. Another rule was that worlds had to honour their trade agreements but were allowed to refuse trade with other worlds if they so chose. The people of the Coalition knew that they could not force certain members to get along and this stopped anyone playing the 'we are supposed to be allies' card when it came to trading.

"The Larrisians also have no objections to their membership," said Harmony. Her vote of support was hardly surprising, as they were the ones who had initially suggested their membership.

"I have looked at the facts and believe that they would be a suitable addition to the Coalition," said Dimas.

"I second Dimas's testament, they would be a welcome addition," said Kelore.

"My people and I have no objections to their joining," said Shiana.

"The Genii have no objections either, some more farmers with food to offer are always welcome as the colder seasons approach," said Ladon.

"Then I believe the motion has been passed overwhelmingly and we can welcome the people of Kolumnar to the Coalition," said Dimas.

"I will see to it that the message is passed on that message to the Kolumnarians," said Harmony.

"Well if there is no other business to discuss might I suggest we partake in some refreshments until we arrive back at Keltona," said Woolsey.

By now the ship had re-entered hyperspace on a course back to the planet. Seeing no objections from the others Woolsey signalled several waiting crewmen to bring over trays laden with various fruits, cheeses and, of course, Athosian wine. As the food and drink was consumed people moved away from the meeting table to the numerous seats around the observation gallery. Eventually, as time went on, the level of formality lowered slightly, although only slightly in some cases.

In one part of the room there was a conversation happening between Kelore, Dimas, Woolsey and Teyla. In another Shiana and Ladon were having a private discussion, while Ronon watched on from a distance. A little further away Harmony was taking the chance to talk to her old friends John and Rodney.

"So how's the ruling life treating you Harmony?" asked John.

"I am enjoying it, and my sister has been kind enough to keep an eye on things for me whilst I am at this meeting," replied Harmony.

"I suppose it's nice to get out on your own once in a while," said Rodney.

"Not regretting having to spend so much time with your wife are you Rodney?" said John.

"Wife?" asked Harmony, slightly startled at this revelation as she noticed the wedding band on his finger.

John winced internally, he hadn't intended for his teasing to upset Harmony. He had forgotten that Harmony had a little bit of a crush on McKay after that incident with the Genii.

"Oh right you two haven't met yet have you, her name is Jennifer. She's the Head of our medical department," said Rodney, slightly oblivious to Harmony's reaction.

"I see. So is she onboard this ship?" asked Harmony innocently. "I would very much like to meet her."

"Yes she is onboard and I'll just see if she's busy," said Rodney.

He turned away and tapped his earwig. "Jennifer can you come to the observation gallery, there's someone I would like you to meet…Okay see you in a bit."

"She'll be here shortly," said Rodney.

Sheppard didn't know whether to groan or laugh. On the one hand this could turn out to be very interesting to watch, and on the other it could end with the princess tearing into the good doctor. Of course that last possibility might be an exaggeration, but then again...At this point you just had to hope, and maybe pray.

"So I bet the Kolumnarians will be happy to hear the good news," said John.

"Indeed it is a splendid triumph that they will be apart of the Coalition, and protected from certain unsavoury characters," said Harmony. She still hadn't gotten over her dislike for the Genii. Although all things considered you couldn't really blame her since they had tried to kill her.

"I take it you'll be telling them as soon as you get home right," said John.

"Yes. I imagine they will be most eager to hear of the decision and I should not keep them waiting," said Harmony.

"Jennifer," said Rodney, suddenly. The man's eyes had instantly been drawn to his very attractive wife the moment she had entered the room.

Jennifer walked up to him with a smile on her lips and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Hi. So who did you want me to meet?"

He turned to introduce the two, "Queen Harmony of Larris." He was clearly trying to be diplomatic as he tried to make it seem like he was announcing Harmony's presence.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," said Jennifer. "Rodney has told me a lot about you. I would love to get a copy of that painting."

Harmony smiled, "Which one?"

"Oh I think the newer one. Rodney tells me the original means a lot to you and of course I think the Colonel is still a little embarrassed by it, he seems to be a little tense."

John was indeed tense but for reasons other than the portrait, thankfully though his fears seemed to be unfounded as the two seemed to be getting along quite well.

"So why did you marry Rodney?" asked Harmony boldly.

"Because he is kind and brave, despite what some people might think," replied Jennifer unflinchingly. "And because I love him."

Harmony smiled as she could see that Jennifer really did love Rodney.

John decided the waters were calm enough for the two of them to be left alone so pulled Rodney off to one side.

"Why don't we let the girls have alone time, eh Rodney."

"Oh sure thing."

Once they were out of ear shot John said, "Well your marriage seems to have Harmony's approval."

"Why wouldn't she approve?"

"Oh you know how it is Rodney, girls just never get over guys like you. It could cause some problems down the road," joked John.

"Ha ha. Anyway you have nothing to worry about the two of them are getting along fine."

And indeed they were, the two of them were chatting like sisters. No doubt talking about the whole temple ruins incident and other funny stories. It was for that reason that the boys decided to leave them in each others company for the rest of the trip back to Keltona. The council resumed their seats, minus Woolsey, and were beamed back down in short order. Once their guests were safely down on the planet the _Weir_ entered hyperspace on a course for Kolumnar.


	6. A very good deal

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Sergeant Major Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. **

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**As some of you may have guessed there will eventually be new ships being built. The tricky part is coming up with appropriate names which is very important, so if you have any suggestions send them in and the best will become the names for the new BC - 305 class ships.**

* * *

Review Responses

******Shadows-of-Realms: Eventually you will get to see the Pegasus-class in action, eventually. As for firepower, well lets face it ambushing the wraith before they get a chance to launch darts is always a good way to stack the odds in your favour. As for Ladon, can you blame him? The Genii did try to secretly push for a lock out against them, and now it turns out that not only did they get off scott free but they have become the military might of the Coalition. Even worse is the fact that they have demonstrated weapons of phenominal power and beaming technology. Oh and to cap it all off they know exactly where they live and all about the underground city that has been the sole reason they weren't completely destroyed by the wraith a long time ago.**

**DaniWilder: Thanks for the kind words. Now Shiana. Lets face it she still bears some resentment over what happened, and who can blame her, and i will never ignore that fact, simply sweep it under the rug or even magic it away. However she does at this point acknowledge that they are at least honest people and do admit to their actions, that was one thing that was shown during the episode you all know i am talking about. Now since she knows they were honest she can then accept that they have taken down quite a few wraith in their time and have been trying to make a difference. However i am not magically changing her current state of mind but she will be a little more open to consideration, in other words she won't immediately see them as guilty no matter what as she did during the trial but she may come to that conclusion. By the way to anyone reading this response and thinking i am going on a bit let me just say that my first thought was that it would take nothing short of a detailed psychiatric report to properly describe Shiana and at this point it seems i was right the first time so i'll stop now.**

* * *

Sheppard was taking a moment to relax in his quarters while the ship was hurtling through hyperspace when someone knocked on his door. Sighing he rose from the couch he was resting on and went to the door. When he opened it he was surprised to find himself facing Todd, who was flanked by his two marine guards.

"Todd what do you want?" asked Sheppard. Although he had a sneaking suspicion exactly what.

The Wraiths voice was as low and as predatory as before. "I wish to speak with you."

"Come in." He turned to the marines. "You two wait outside." _Not like he's going to eat me_, he thought.

When the door was closed Sheppard finally asked the question, "So Todd, what do you want to talk about?"

The Wraith went pokerfaced. "I understand you recently engaged some cruisers in battle."

"Go on."

"I also understand that you destroyed them quite easily. In fact you destroyed them the moment they realised you were even there."

"Oh really and how did you know that?"

Todd smiled, "Oh I think you and I both know that Sheppard."

"Don't tell me, your Wraith telepathy." Even as he said it Sheppard knew he was right, it made perfect sense.

"Exactly."

"So now we've got that out in the open I think we can admit you know exactly what happened in the battle."

"I do," the Wraith admitted.

"Why not run it by me, just so we're clear."

"The cruisers exited hyperspace completely unaware of your presence. Since the Wraith onboard were surprised by the fact that your battle cruiser suddenly appeared out of no where I can only presume that the ship has a cloaking device. The battle cruiser then immediately engaged the cruisers and destroyed them before they even had the chance to fire a shot or launch a single dart." The Wraiths face had been completely neutral as he said this, not giving away any signs of approval or anger.

"Ok so you have all the facts. Now what did you want to say to me?"

"I want to know why, why did you feel the need to destroy those cruisers?"

Sheppard tapped his earwig. "ISIS."

The ships holographic interface immediately appeared in the corner of the room.

"Yes Commander," she said.

"Access known telemetry for the 5 Wraith cruisers we just encountered," Sheppard ordered.

On the wall mounted monitor a star map appeared with the wraith cruisers on it. It was an exact duplicate of the sensor readings taken from the sensor relays placed to watch the planet Kolumnar. On the screen the cruisers were clearly noted by the five glowing red dots. The predicted trajectory put the cruisers going through the system they had just come through and several other systems, all of which were known to contain small civilisations.

"Take a look at the screen Todd," said Sheppard. "Those cruisers were headed for a number of habited systems, no doubt looking for the next meal."

"Why not offer them the same treatment that you gave me then?" Todd was still keeping his expression neutral, although Sheppard suspected that he was going to get angry if he didn't get a good answer.

"You really think they would have accepted it?" Todd remained silent. "I thought not. Look if we are going to offer the rest of the Wraith a cure then it can't be from us it has to be from you. Good cop, bad cop. You saw how easily we destroyed them so you know we have the firepower to take them out. That's where you come in. We offer them the stick and you offer them the carrot."

"Do you really think that will work?" Todd's tone had gone from emotionless, well as emotionless as a Wraiths voice can seem, to hopeful.

"Remember Todd you're still the de facto leader of the alliance of hives, they are supposed to listen to you. Besides any Wraith that does take the cure will become our allies, we'll help you set up your own farms, establish trade relations. Then of course there is your carrot."

"Oh and what might the carrot be?" Todd was intrigued. They clearly they had some kind of plan worked out, something which would capture his interest.

"You'll be the leader of these converted Wraith, they'll have no choice in the matter. Just imagine any Wraith who ever questioned you having to bow down to you. You'll be the one who saved them all from extinction. Because believe me, the old Wraith will go extinct as no human in this galaxy or any other will ever become a food source again." The last part was almost shouted. It didn't quite reach that level of volume but it certainly wasn't said in a calm voice.

Todd chuckled. "I was wrong Sheppard, you do understand Wraith."

"I'm not kidding Todd," said Sheppard, his tone deadly serious. "Any Wraith that doesn't take the cure is looking at death, no exceptions."

"I understand," he said, his expression neutral once again.

* * *

_**Kolumna**_** – Control Room**

In a white flash of light three people appeared in the centre of the control room before the gate. The guards stationed around the room immediately reacted to the sudden arrival but quickly calmed once they recognised them as guests. Appearing almost out of nowhere the three were suddenly faced by Captain Tovar. Greeting each of them in turn he welcomed them back to the city.

"Colonel Sheppard, Doctor McKay, Mr Woolsey," he said. "I take it you are here to see Minister Petra."

"Indeed we are," said Woolsey. "Provided, of course, that she is available to see us."

"Oh I think she will be very happy to see you," he smiled. "We just received word from a Coalition envoy that we have been accepted into the fold. Follow me."

He led the way to Petra's office, where the Minister was waiting for them. As she rose from her seat she spoke.

"Gentlemen, I have been expecting you," she said.

Woolsey spoke, "Tovar tells me you have heard the good news already. Might I be amongst the first to say welcome to the Coalition."

"Thank you," she replied. "I am sure you had a part in our success. I also take it that you are here to collect on our trade agreement."

"We are," replied Woolsey.

"I trust you have what we asked for in exchange for the chair."

"We have all the medical supplies you asked for boxed and ready to beam down," said Sheppard. The medical supplies were coming from the _Weir_'s own stores so as the commander he had to over see there transfer.

"Then allow me to show you to where we have relocated the chair to."

McKay jumped in at this point. "I trust you kept it safe, somewhere dry, out of the way. You were careful when moving it right?"

Petra laughed, even she knew of Rodney's love for technology, especially ancient technology.

"Do not worry Doctor McKay, it is perfectly safe," she said. "In fact it is in a room that is hardly ever used by us."

Interestingly she led them into the jumper bay and over to the large object covered by a dust sheet which they had seen several days ago when they had first visited. Tovar, who had joined the party as they left the office, pulled the sheet off. Underneath was the gleaming shape of an ancient control chair in pristine condition. McKay stared at his prize in awe. Moving closer to better examine it he saw the chair was in perfect condition, having been well cared for over the years by the servants tasked with keeping it clean.

"You know I can't believe we walked by the thing and didn't even realise it was there," said Sheppard in bewilderment.

"I believe it is one of your expressions that goes that if you want to hide something hide it in plain sight," said Petra smiling at the Colonel's surprise. "Of course if it is something this big it helps to also put it under a large dust sheet."

"Hmm, so McKay what's the verdict?"

"Well it seems to be in perfect condition and appears to be an exact replica to the others we've encountered. And…" he trailed off as he pushed a button on the base and an octagonal panel rose up revealing an empty slot. "…there is a place for a ZPM to go."

"I take it then that it is to your satisfaction," said Petra.

As his response Sheppard tapped his earwig, "_Weir_ beam down the supplies."

In one off the alcoves next to them, in a flash of white light, three supply crates appeared. Sheppard walked over to the chair and fixed a magnetic locator beacon to the side while Tovar confirmed the contents of the crates.

"The crates contain all the medical supplies we promised you," said Sheppard. "So if that's all we'd like to take the chair now."

Petra nodded. "Of course Colonel, the chair is yours. Can I assume you won't need any help moving it?"

Sheppard grinned.

"Rodney stand back." He tapped his earwig again. "_Weir_ beam up the chair."

With the familiar Asgard beaming the control chair vanished from the room.

"Well now that that's been taken care of I think we'll be going," said Sheppard. Speaking into his earwig he said, "_Weir_, prepare to beam us up."

Petra decided to ask the question that had been on her mind throughout this technological display. "Colonel what stopped you from simply taking the chair? You clearly had the capability."

Sheppard was still smiling after he heard this and his reply was one word before he vanished.

"Honour."

* * *

_**Weir**_** – Onboard Gate Room**

The gate room on the ship was actually a fairly simple set up as it was originally been designated as a cargo bay. On one side of the room was a DHD, harvested from a broken puddle jumper found in the cities underwater bay that had been scrapped for parts, and now contained the dialling crystal taken from Atlantis. It was set into the wall next to a computer console that contained the gate address database. On the other side were a number of large and wide flat bed cargo carriers, one which was now carrying the weight of the control chair which had been strapped to its back. In a connecting bay, opposite from the stargate, and lining two of the long walls were Atlantis's entire compliment of puddle jumpers. However before all of these and set so they were covering the stargate were four armoured gun nests, each of which contained a swivel mounted X-699. These versions came with a very low powered mode which was the equivalent of a stun setting, unlike the ones mounted on the transport shuttles which only had a maximum power setting as standard.

The entire time the ship had been in Pegasus the gate had been inactive and unused yet despite this was guarded the entire time. But now the gate was about to be used, the inner ring light spinning as the chevrons locked one by one as the gate address for Earth was dialled. As the eighth and final chevron locked into place power from the ships generators flowed through conduits and into the stargate, creating the familiar kawhoosh as the event horizon formed and a connection to Earth was established. Once the IDC was sent through the waiting crewmen sprang into action and _Atlantis_'s command crew watched as, with a nod to his comrades, Doctor Radek Zelenka stepped into the event horizon of the wormhole followed by the cargo carrier which was being controlled remotely. As the wormhole closed the event horizon dissipated and the stargate shut down to a silent room.

After a few moments Sheppard broke the silence, his voice heard across the entire ship as Isis transmitted his words over the intercom.

"Lets get moving people; we rendezvous with _Atlantis_ in an hour."

Radek rematerialized in the SGC gate room followed shortly by the control chair. At the bottom of the ramp was General Hank Landry.

"Welcome back to Earth Doctor," he said. "I see you brought a gift with you."

"Thank you General," said Radek before taking a data crystal out of his pocket. "I have the correct calculations for the wormhole drive on this. I intend to take _Atlantis_ back in an hour. Is everything ready here?"

"General O'Neill's instructions have been carried out to the letter. All the personnel you need have already been relocated to _Atlantis_ and all the storage rooms have been fully stocked. They are just awaiting your arrival and that data crystal."

* * *

**Argus Shipyards – 9 days ago**

After going through a promotion ceremony back at the Alpha Site Colonel Sheppard was about to get his mission briefing from General O'Neill.

"Sir," asked Sheppard "Not that I don't love the idea of having a ship like the _Weir_ to call my own, but why can't we just take _Atlantis_ back with us? I know she isn't fully repaired tech wise but at least all the leaks have been taken care of."

General O'Neill sighed, "Son I know that _Atlantis_ is home to you folks but at the moment this is the way things are. However your former commander and I have seen to it that it's not the way things will always be, so just sit quietly for a few minutes and listen to the facts of the situation. Oh and remember all the wonderful things that happened in the Pegasus galaxy because you never know when past experiences will lead to solutions in the future."

* * *

**SGC - Present**

"Are the ZPM's in place?" asked Doctor Zelenka.

"Yes. You'll be happy to know that we finally unearthed the remains of Area 51, and that the container for the ZPM was intact. So Atlantis will be going back with her full compliment, well two full and one on recharge anyway, and we won't have to take the one from the Odyssey. The new chair will still use the first's ZPM as it is still at near full capacity."

"Rodney will be pleased to hear that." He remembered the case Rodney had made a few years ago that Atlantis should be allowed to keep more than one ZPM. "How are the IOA going to take this do you think? I don't imagine they are simply going to allow us to take the city back to Pegasus.

"Don't worry about that," said Landry with a smile on his face. "That particular problem has been dealt with a while ago. I just hope someone has a camera ready when it hits them."

* * *

_**Atlantis**_** Control Room – Less than an hour later**

Radek was inputting the final calculations before activating the wormhole drive. Beside him, working at their individual stations were Chuck and Amelia.

"I have finished inputting the calculations," said Radek as he finished typing. "What is the cities status?"

"All personnel report they are ready for the jump," said Chuck.

"Generators are online and power is ready to be routed to the drive. Minimal ZPM power is being utilised," Amelia, smiling at the thought that she would be seeing Ronon soon, as she had known she would for over a week now.

When Atlantis was undergoing repairs it was fitted with four neutrino ion generators which could provide power to the city in the majority of times. However the ZPM's would still be necessary as they provided volumes of power in a single moment that could not hope to be matched by the generators alone, as the ZPM's acted like super batteries, power which was usually necessary to have available. To compensate for this fact the science team decided to use an idea that had been considered a while ago by Rodney, recharging the ZPM's. Although they could not actually make the ZPM itself provided it was, at the very least, partially powered the quantum foam inside would still be active. This meant that if they could direct enough energy into it at a time they could in fact, slowly but steadily, recharge it. It was only now with the addition of the neutrino ion generators that they had the power necessary to charge it.

"I'm bringing the drive online," said Radek. "Initiating power flow."

"Power flow is stable, drive reaching maximum capacity," said Amelia.

"Initiating jump," said Radek. And with the click of a button the city was enveloped in a ball of water-like energy and vanished.

* * *

**IOA Meeting Room**

James Coolidge and Shen Xaioyi, two of the IOA's foremost representatives given Woolsey's absence, were sitting at one end of the long meeting table and discussing a few things before the official IOA meeting began in a few minutes time. In the middle of a conversation they were interrupted by a knock at the door which surprised them as any member of the IOA would not have to knock to enter their own meeting and they realized it must be someone else.

"Enter," said Coolidge.

The door opened to reveal newly promoted Lt Colonel Paul Davis, whom Coolidge recognised instantly having dealt with him on numerous occasions, standing in the now open doorway with a small file in hand.

"Ah Colonel Davis what can we do for you?" he asked.

"I have come to inform of a few recent occurrences before the meeting officially begins. We at Homeworld Command felt it would be prudent to inform you about these matters especially given your situation," he replied while walking over to them.

Although they didn't show it outwardly both IOA members got an ego boost at those words. What they didn't realise was that those words actually meant their egos were about to be severely deflated.

"Do not keep us waiting then, the meeting will be starting shortly," said Xaioyi.

"Of course, exactly," he paused briefly to check his watch, "two minutes ago, _Atlantis_ returned to the Pegasus galaxy using the wormhole drive. At the time she was fully supplied for the needs of the _Atlantis_ Expedition, and was carrying all assigned security personnel and technical staff. She was also fitted with two active ZPM's and one at minimal activity."

The look on the representatives faces were priceless, Davis silently agreed with General O'Neill's earlier advice and wished he had actually brought a camera.

"Exactly what makes General O'Neill think he has the right to take _Atlantis_ away from Earth and be allowed to get away with it," asked Coolidge in a raised voice while managing to keep his anger in check.

"General O'Neill instructed me to present you with the following upon receiving such a question," said Davis. He handed over a sheet of paper from the folder he was carrying before adding, "Sir."

Coolidge looked at the piece of paper he was holding which was stamped with the word copy at the top. It was a copy of the agreement signed by himself, Xaioyi, Woolsey and General O'Neill stating the reason that _Atlantis_ could not return to the Pegasus Galaxy and had to remain on Earth.

* * *

**The same meeting room – One month ago**

On one side of the table sat Coolidge and Xaioyi, while on the other sat Woolsey and General O'Neill. The latter of who were currently trying to swing it that _Atlantis_ would be allowed to return to the Pegasus Galaxy while the former were arguing that _Atlantis_ needed to remain on Earth. It probably helped that Woolsey was currently in the rest of the IOA's 'hall of fame' after he had managed to save their collective asses by bringing _Atlantis_ back to Earth in time to engage the hive ship in orbit. But, even though Shen was still in the dark regarding the incident with the AI that had tricked her into giving Woolsey a good review, she still opposed the friendship he had developed with General O'Neill and the rest of Atlantis's command team. As a result the decision could swing either way but the IOA didn't seem to be budging an inch.

Eventually General O'Neill apparently got sick of the constant stream of banter and decided to issue an ultimatum.

"Look I think we can all agree on one thing," he said. "And that is that _Atlantis_ is at this point the only way to control the arsenal of drones stored on Earth. Can we at least say that for the foreseeable future as long as Earth has no other means of utilising those defensive weapons that _Atlantis_ needs to remain on Earth?"

Coolidge and Xaioyi shared a looked before Coolidge spoke.

"I believe we can agree to that."

Woolsey sighed, "I hate to say it but you do have a point General. I agree."

"Right," said O'Neill to the IOA representatives, "You two are the official IOA representatives for this matter right?"

"We are," said Shen.

"Then would you mind signing this, on the behalf on the IOA, along with Woolsey, the current administrator of _Atlantis_, and me." He handed Shen a piece of paper and motioned for her to read it.

"This is to officially certify," she read, "that so long as Atlantis remains the only means of controlling the weapons needed to defend Earth the city must remain on the planet and as such cannot return to the Pegasus galaxy."

"If you have no objections would you all sign it so that we can put an end to this matter and go home, please?"

All three members of the IOA signed the document, followed by General O'Neill.

"Thank you," he said, with a smile.

And to think, the two representatives thought he was smiling because he could finally call it a day.

* * *

**IOA Meeting Room – Present**

Shen snatched away the piece of paper, took one look at it and then slammed it on the desk.

"All this shows is that he is in violation of the agreement that we made," she said, scowling.

Calmly, and more importantly while keeping a straight face, Davis took the other item of out the folder and placed it on the table. It was a photograph.

"In response to that General O'Neill told me to give you this photograph of the control chair sent back to Earth by Colonel Sheppard."

And with a small smile he turned and left, leaving behind two IOA representatives who suddenly realised they had been played for fools.

* * *

**Pegasus Galaxy – New Lantea (M35 117)**

On the tranquil calm ocean surface a ball of water-like energy appeared and then vanished, leaving behind the city of _Atlantis_, shining in the afternoon sun. Watching from a few thousand feet above the ocean, as the _Weir _descended to land on one the piers, John smiled. After what had seemed like forever the city had finally returned home.


	7. A matter of trust

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Sergeant Major Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. **

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**As some of you may have guessed there will eventually be new ships being built. The tricky part is coming up with appropriate names which is very important, so if you have any suggestions send them in and the best will become the names for the new BC - 305 class ships.**

**Yes i know, this chapter is shorter than all the others. The reason for this is that the next chapter will feature some very important points but in order to fit them in i am going to have to shorten this chapter a bit. Now lets see what you make of this one as i have included hints of what i am planning for you next. Feel free to PM me about it.**

* * *

Review Responses

**Doc Lee: I trust i already addressed your concerns.**

**Shadow of Realm: The Weir will be in action very soon, trust me.**

**DaniWilder: Trust me on this, when i wrap everything up i will stop writing this fic. But until that time enjoy the story.**

* * *

There's an old saying that goes, there's no place like home, and looking around at the beautiful city of _Atlantis_ as she floated gracefully on the open waves you wouldn't find anyone who would argue. Atlantis was their home and she was finally back where she belonged. All it had taken was a little sneaky planning courtesy of General O'Neill and Richard Woolsey. Of course the fallout from this meant that they were looking at a slightly ticked off IOA but it was nothing they couldn't handle. Besides the other IOA members had been reminded that there was a reason that O'Neill and Woolsey are so good at their jobs.

The best part of all this was that they were technically following all the rules that had been laid down by the IOA. They had followed the agreement to the letter and had even followed up by giving Woolsey his old job back. This meant that they didn't have to worry about the IOA swooping in to fill the seat with one of their own as they couldn't object to Woolsey being in charge when they had originally given him the job, and he was an IOA member to boot so any decisions he made technically counted as being certified by the IOA. A fact that was going to make their lives a lot easier in the future since they wouldn't have to worry about making a mountain of complaints regarding lack of approval for every little thing they did.

Throughout the hallways of Atlantis people were scurrying back and forth, transporter booths were being used constantly and even the lone ring platform was in operation as personnel transferred their things from the _Weir_ to their old living quarters aboard the city. Even the stargate was active, once it had been reinstalled in the gate room, and scientists and military personnel flooded through via _Valley Forge_ after they found themselves relieved of their apparently temporary assignments at the SGC. Slowly but surely the city was becoming a place where people lived and worked rather than a place constant flurry of repair work as it had become during its time on Earth. Of course nobody really complained about this fact as it meant they were no longer troubled by leaks and the occasional bit of flooding and it took a load off everyone's plates.

But even if they had the city back Sheppard wasn't going to be losing his command. The _Weir_ would still be his ship to personally command or, if he so chose, he could leave Lorne in charge while he did other things. In order to make this happen though they needed someone to fill the shoes of head of security for the city, a task that quickly given to Sergeant Major Richards with the promise that yes he would still get to off world now and again.

By the end of a very long day everyone was settled back in and they could finally get down to business, in the morning of course. The command staff saw the logic of giving people a chance to adjust themselves back to city life and of course get some dinner, not to mention the fact that it was movie night. And so, after a little light celebrating by most of the expedition during the night, people reported for duty in the morning and settled back into their old routines.

The first order of business was to try to make contact with some of their more advanced allies. To this effect Atlantis broadcasted an encoded subspace burst on a specific frequency known to be used by the Travellers. If it was received then hopefully Larrin would get the message and head to New Lantea for a meet and greet.

The next item on the agenda came, interestingly enough, from Todd. Obviously now that they had a chance to offer a cure for the whole of Wraith society they would need to try to start establishing connections with the Wraith out there. It was going to be difficult making contact with individual hives as, lets face it, if they could so easily find the hive ships they would have done so by now. However it was believed that if they could establish ties with the Wraith alliance, which Todd had been placed as a de-facto leader of, then that would eventually lead to the rest of Wraith society accepting the conversion process. Unfortunately there was a slight snag in that part of the plan.

"What do you mean you can't convince them to take the cure?" asked Sheppard angrily. "This plan hinged on the fact that you said they would accept it."

In Atlantis's conference room were Woolsey, Carson, Jennifer and the whole of AR-1. They had been finalising the details to progressively cure the entire Wraith society when Todd had decided to drop his little bomb shell.

"They will accept the cure," said Todd. "Unfortunately the queens need someone they can trust a lot more than me in order to put their faith in it. Given my dealings with your people in the past they will most likely assume that I am only going to cure the drones, which I can control, and then wipe the out queens, or at least any that get in my way."

"So who did you have in mind to offer them the cure?" asked Woolsey.

"A woman who I know all the Wraith queens will listen to without a doubt," replied Todd.

McKay raised an eyebrow at this point. "Why do I get the feeling that you are not going to tell us who she is?"

"Because you would be right Doctor McKay. It is not my privilege to tell you her story only hers, so if you want to hear it we will have to go to her."

"So let me see if I have this straight, in the past you made a deal with her and she is the one you adamantly refuse to betray?" asked Sheppard.

"In short, yes."

Everyone was silent for a moment while they pondered this. While it was true that Todd hadn't openly betrayed them, well not until he thought he was had been betrayed first, for Todd to give his un-waving loyalty to someone clearly meant something.

Teyla decided to break the silence, "Does this place we have to go to have a stargate?"

"No," replied Todd. "The stargate was removed some time ago, so the only way to get there is by ship."

Finally Sheppard came to a decision, "Fine then, you give us the address and we'll go and meet this mysterious woman."

* * *

**Unknown Planet**

The planet that the _Weir_ now orbited could be described incredibly simply, it was a rock. The entire planet was pretty much a barren and rocky wasteland with very little fauna of any kind to provide a stable atmosphere to breath. It was no wonder then that the stargate had been removed. With only so many in the galaxy one could find a planet that was much more in need of one than this place.

Perhaps this was the reason then that the planet had been chosen to house the one woman in the whole galaxy that could convince the Wraith queens to accept the gift that they were being offered. After all with no stargate people would not stumble across it during their explorations of the gate network and any ship that came across it would see it for what it was an out of the way barren wasteland not worth the effort to establish a base on. These were the thoughts going through the crews minds as they looked down on the planet through the numerous viewports on the _Weir_.

"Todd what are we looking for exactly? From what ISIS tells me there are no life signs on the entire planet," asked Sheppard.

"If you give me access to your short range communications I can send a coded signal down to the planet. This will activate a beacon that will signal the presence of a specific location on the planet that is otherwise undetectable by your sensors."

"Okay, go for it."

With Rodney and ISIS keeping an eye on his actions Todd accessed communications on a nearby terminal and sent a coded signal down to the planet. It wasn't long before they got a reaction.

"Commander," said ISIS from her corner of the room. "I am detecting the presence of a beacon emanating from a cave structure, the existence of which has only just become tangible."

"Can you establish a clear sensor lock to beam us down there?" asked Sheppard.

"Confirmed, all sensor shielding covering the cave structure has been lowered."

Sheppard turned to his team. "Gear up gang it's time for us to go on a little field trip."

In a flash of white light AR-1 and Todd reappeared in the middle of a dark cave which immediately brightened up as the sensors lining the cave ceiling detected Todd and Teyla's Wraith DNA. After taking a moment to look around and get his bearings he led them through the caves to a large area of open, albeit underground, space.

Throughout the room there were numerous consoles that were coming to life after so many years of being inactive along with power tendrils snaking across the walls like vines. Every piece of technology in the room, from the consoles to the power tendrils, was clearly wraith in origin. But the one thing that caught their eye was the one piece of technology that had been glowing in the dark even before the lights had come on and that was a single wraith hibernation pod, and from the dark silhouette inside it they could clearly see it was occupied.

Todd proceeded to a console by the pod and keyed in several commands. With a hiss of escaping gas the pod cracked open. As its occupant was revealed Todd spoke.

"Allow me to introduce you to my mother, Echidna."


	8. The Matriarch

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Sergeant Major Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. **

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**As some of you may have guessed there will eventually be new ships being built. The tricky part is coming up with appropriate names which is very important, so if you have any suggestions send them in and the best will become the names for the new BC - 305 class ships.**

**And here it is at last, the long awaited chapter. Apologies for the time taken but i have been ill for weeks, ranging from an annoying cold which led to a nasty and painful infection thanks to a weakened immune system. Now i am recovered and i present to you my longest chapter yet and with some plot points i am quite proud of. Enjoy.**

* * *

Review Responses

**Shadow of Realm: I'm glad you trust me, you shall not be disappointed.**

* * *

The woman's eyes snapped open as the pod doors slid open. She was instantly alerted to her surroundings and the people before her, one of which was her son but the others were all humans. All were armed with strange looking weapons that she did not recognise and, while they were not currently pointed at her, from the way they held them it was clear they were more than ready to turn them on her.

The second the mist from inside the pod cleared the Wraith queen became instantly recognisable for what she was. She was clearly a Wraith, as the pale blue skin and slits below the eyes showed. Interestingly though she seemed to be almost human with her long flowing black hair and the lack of the typical Wraith predator aurora. She certainly seemed to be much less of a predator than her son who was now standing next to her and greeting his mother.

"It is good to see you again Matriarch," said Todd.

"Now my son you know I have told you to call me mother as any other son would," said Echidna, smiling warmly at her son.

Todd smiled in response, "It is good to see you again, mother."

"Now then," she glanced at the assembled group who were looking on in wonder at this exchange. "Who are your well armed friends?"

"These are humans from another galaxy who I find myself allied with," said Todd. "They are seeking your assistance in negotiating with the hive queens."

Echidna turned to study the group before she finally spoke.

"And what is it that you wish to negotiate about?" she asked.

"We want you to convince them to take the cure that we are offering them," said Sheppard, keeping his voice level.

Upon hearing this Echidna's hand shot out and grabbed Todd's right hand taking everyone by surprise at the sudden movement. She turned his unresisting hand palm up to reveal the unbroken skin. She looked her son in the eye as she spoke.

"I thought there was something different about you my son and now I know what it is. You truly have been cured haven't you?"

"Yes mother I am," said Todd. "Thanks to them I am able to eat real food again. I no longer suffer from this agonising hunger."

"Then I owe them a debt of thanks," said Echidna before turning to the humans. "Thank you for giving my son this gift. Can you really cure all of them?"

"Yes we can," said Sheppard. "But we need your help to convince them that they can trust us."

"Mother," Todd interrupted, "I suggest that we continue this conversation on route to the _Arima_."

"What is the _Arima_?" asked McKay.

"It is my personal ship," said Echidna. "Only I am able to control it so any Wraith who sees it will know that I am aboard."

"Okay fine we'll continue this conversation on route," said Sheppard. He turned to Todd. "I am guessing that there is no stargate near it."

"No there isn't," said Todd. "But I can give you the location if you give me access to a star chart again."

Sheppard nodded. "Right then lets get moving, I cannot wait to hear this story."

He tapped his earwig. "Lorne beam all life signs up."

* * *

**Weir – Conference Room **

The conference room had a similar set up to the ones onboard other Tau'ri ships, table, chairs, wall mounted display monitor and a window view. Of course as the ship was currently in hyperspace the view mainly consisted of varying shades of blue. The assembled party consisted of Todd, Echidna and AR-1. Introductions had been made and they were waiting to hear Echidna's tale.

"Before I tell you my tale I need to know a few things," said Echidna. "How long have I been asleep?"

"You have been in hibernation for nearly 10,200 year's mother," said Todd.

"Okay so you know the date and we are on route to the Arima," said Sheppard. "Now its time for you to start talking, why will every Wraith out there trust you?"

"Because children will listen to their mother," stated Echidna.

Shocked silence hung in the air until McKay dared to break it.

"You were the first one?"

"Yes Doctor I was. But I will start from the beginning. 10,300 years ago I was part of a science team sent by the high council to a planet to study a new form of indigenous life form, an insect-like creature which we named the Iratus Bug. My team and I proceeded to enter a series of caves where we believed the creatures lived. At the time though we did not know of the dangers that awaited us, we had heard of locals disappearing but did not make the link between the creatures and the disappearances. It was that mistake that led to the deaths of every member of that science team, except for me. As we entered deeper into the caves we were ambushed by the creatures. They surrounded us and herded us deeper into the caves until we came before the queen bug." Echidna shuddered at the memory. "The queen fed on each of my team until finally I was the only one left. But when it came to me, something happened. I do not know the reason why but when the bug started to feed something changed in me. At the time my people were still striving towards ascension and some of our people were beginning to change genetically. We were all changing, becoming something more, evolving at an extraordinary rate and in some of us the changes were a little unstable, I was one of those cases but I could still control my natural abilities and it was not something that presented any problems. In fact the council wanted to study my changes, to see how my body would adapt to different environments and hopefully discover a new path to ascension. And so in exchange for being the subject of their tests they allowed me to join the science team to gain field experience, as I was merely finishing studying animal biology, physiology and anthropology at the time and was not yet a scientist in my own right. It had been my ambition to become a great scientist but instead I became a legend amongst the scientific community. My DNA absorbed the Iratus bug DNA on a massive scale. Even while the queen fed on me I was mutating on the cellular level, becoming something new, something never seen before. I became the first Wraith to have ever existed. The queen feeding on me noticed this immediately, and with my new mind opening to the world around me I could sense her fear. My immediate thought was survival and I reacted the moment the creature hesitated and tore it from my body." Most present winced at this point; the memory of the fight those things would put up to hang on to their prey was all too fresh in their memories. "And so I ran. I ran from the cave with my dead team mates, and the creature that had turned me into what you see before you."

After this revealing monologue all that followed was silence as the humans considered what they had heard. But even after such an insight into the woman's history they could tell she was still holding something back.

"That explains how you came to be," said Woolsey. "But how is that the rest of your kind came into being?"

Echidna drew in a deep breath to steel herself for the next part of her story.

"Simply put, they are my children. Well the oldest, like my son here, are but the rest are at least my descendants. But there are several things you need to know first before I get into detail and I will ask that you save your questions for after you hear what we have to tell you. Now then you must know that it did not take long for my own hunger to surface and I found myself needing to feed. I know what you are thinking and you should know that I did not feed on humans. Because of my Lantean heritage my mind and will is strong enough to resist the urge to feed on humans but as a result my only alternative is to feed on the larger wildlife on the planet. Thankfully there were several sizable herds of large wilder beast present in the local valleys and they provided an excellent food source.

"But it wasn't long before my people – my old people – sent a search party. I observed them for a while as they scoured the area around the stargate on foot and further out using numerous gateships. As long as they didn't try to enter the caves I had decided to remain hidden and if I didn't allow them to catch sight of me they would dismiss my life readings as those of a roaming animal, I was after all an entirely new species. This continued for some time until I eventually noticed one member of the search party in particular. His name was Typhoeus and I knew that he did not belong here. He was not of the military like the other searchers but a scientist, like I had hoped to be." She smiled at the memory. "I had known him for years, he was not much older than I. He was an engineer with a sub-specialty in bio-technology and it was hearing his passion about science in our younger days that inspired me to become a scientist. I knew that if he had come then he must have volunteered for the mission, the council would not have sent a scientist for something that was clearly a task for military personnel. It was this thought that gave me hope and late one night I snuck past the camps sentries and visited him in his tent. To say he was shocked to see me would be an understatement. "

She paused as the emotions of the memories temporarily overwhelmed her to the point of silence.

"I won't pretend that he was more shocked by my sudden appearance in his presence than by my actual appearance. I know that he was horrified by my transformation but I do at least know that he was happy that I was alive. When his mood calmed enough I told him what had happened in the caves and warned him to stay away from them. Of course his first instinct was to take me back home so that he and the other scientists might find a cure. But I would not go with him, I was afraid. I feared that if I were to go back with him the council would see me as a dangerous creature, a threat to be neutralised. My people were not above covering up their mistakes and I am sure that the idea that one of their kind could become such a creature would have terrified them. Besides I owed it to the others like me who would did not deserve to suffer because of such a fluke. And so we decided to hide my existence. An artificial body was placed inside the cave for an apparent discovery, which was made by Typhoeus, and the remains almost vaporized when he ordered the security forces to detonate a bomb in the cave to kill the deadly creatures that were supposedly chasing after him. With only his word and unidentifiable remains the council had no choice but to declare me officially dead and move on. As a kindness to Typhoeus for losing a loved one he was allowed to pursue his own private projects for a while and so worked alone, occasionally going off world as he chose. Of course his real reasons for going off world were to visit me, bringing supplies with him to make a home as well as a secret lab for him to use if necessary. I did not realise just how necessary it would soon become, but perhaps he did. A year had passed since my apparent death when Typhoeus was discovered to be working on altering the biological make up of a creature such as myself. The council wrongly assumed that his goal was to turn someone into such a creature and that the missing humans were his test subjects, when in actual fact he had been researching the opposite. Suddenly finding himself hunted he fled back to our secret haven where he hoped we would be safe, but we knew the council would be looking for us.

"Over time he had come to the conclusion that I might never regain my original state of being. So when he was forced to flee he set in motion plans that he had prepared for just such an eventuality. In the year that had passed both of us had been busy studying my changes to see what my capabilities might be and what discoveries my changes might lead to. Together we made many discoveries about my new form. The first of which was that I was capable of producing children, but not in the usual manner. Like the Queen bugs before me I must produce eggs, but since I was a combination of species I could not do so without assistance. We created a device, a birthing chamber if you will, that required me to be connected to it and once my contribution was made my child could grow. Once we knew the path our future would follow we decided that it was time to continue the new race that fate had created, and so the first of my children were born. Over the coming months I had many daughters and many more sons. And that is how my children came to be. Todd is one of my sons and because of the war he is my only remaining son.

"Another discovery was that like the Iratus bug queens my body was capable of making a pathogen for generating an almost web like substance used to make the bugs nests by converting the local plant matter. After some heavy genetic alteration to the pathogen we found a way for it to be altered to take in raw materials that were non biological and convert them. With further testing and trials we discovered that we could change the pathogen to create for us a home of our own, a home that could traverse the stars and take us away from those who would wish us harm. And so we decided to build such a craft. By that point my children had grown and had become strong, their DNA meant they reached adulthood quickly. They had been educated by myself and Typhoeus and knew of their heritage and how our species came to be. When we decided to make our home though we came to one irrevocable conclusion, in order to grow the pathogen required a host, a central mind from which to expand and grow and take shape. A mind which would act as the neural centre for what would become a living ship of the stars, and so Typhoeus made the decision to become that neural centre. He knew that I would continue to survive long after he had succumbed to old age and saw it as the way to be with me throughout the centuries to come. And so he injected the pathogen into himself on the jungle world we had called our home, and slowly began to change. Without a power source besides the electrical energy that his body produced to aid the process it took many years for the change to be complete. But finally our home, the _Arima_, was complete, and at the heart of it, with his mind still intact, was Thypoeus. He had become a part of the ship and for his sacrifice was revered as the true father of our race.

"But one day shortly after the ship was completed a few of my children who were hunting wild animals on another world were come across by a scouting party of primitive humans. Fearing the creatures they found the humans attacked and killed several of my children, but they underestimated them. The others fought back and killed almost all of the humans, draining them of life. My children who had fed found the human form to be a more appetising snack than the simple animals they had hunted all their lives. When they at last returned to me they spread the word of their discovery and convinced the others to use the humans as their new food source. I argued that my people would not allow them to feed on the humans as they pleased but to no avail. What I would later learn was that my children had become addicted to the life force of humans and that there was nothing I could do to curb their hunger. It was this that marked the change in my children's futures for they now saw humans as their one and only food source, and as such the Alteran's as their enemy.

"And yet they knew that my people were powerful and would be difficult to overcome. So they tried to harvest what information they could from the memory banks of the _Arima_ in order to build the ships they would need to combat my people. But they would also need troops and so after experimentation they created the first of the drones, creatures of strength and power which, in exchange for rapid growth, were reduced to nothing more than mindless soldiers. When I discovered this I stopped trying to merely convince them and physically attempted to stop them. But the combined mental powers of all my daughters were too much for me to take on alone and so I was captured. But it was my fate to be freed by the one child of mine who had stayed loyal, the one you now know as Todd, and with his help I was able to go into hiding. And so after so many millennia I find myself here before you," she concluded.

There was silence for a minute while everyone mulled over the condensed version of the Wraith's origins and added this new information to what they already knew.

"So," said Woolsey at last. "What makes you think they will still listen to you now when all those years ago your own children betrayed you?"

Echidna winced slightly at the memory of her children's betrayal before speaking.

"Now that you have a way to make it so that my kind does not have to feed on humans in order to survive I can convince them to accept the change. If it is me who is offering them this change then they should accept it, even my grandchildren would recognise me as Matriarch of our people."

"I take it that's why we are taking you to the _Arima_ then," said McKay.

"Correct Doctor. The _Arima_ can only be controlled by the one true Matriarch," said Echidna. "It is the flagship of the entire Wraith fleet, the most powerful Wraith ship to have ever existed. The current hive ships which were built from what little knowledge gleamed from the _Arima_'s design are poor copies in comparison."

Everyone was slightly taken aback at this bold statement, already thoughts about the size and capabilities of the vessel were flittering through their minds. The most prominent of which were images of the super hive they had faced not that long ago.

"Before we arrive we need some assurances as to your intentions," said Woolsey. "Since we can neither confirm nor deny your story there is only one thing that we can do that will allow us to trust you. I would like you to submit yourself to the same treatment as Todd."

Echidna's expression of resolute calm did not flicker for a moment. "I will be happy to Mr Woolsey."

* * *

**Unknown System**

In orbit of a desolate dust coloured world barren of life was a single hive ship with fifteen cruisers scattered around it in a defensive formation. They were the guardians of the treasure below. On the planets surface slowly being buried by the dust storms that traversed the planet was the first Wraith hive ship, the _Arima_.

Standing on the bridge of their cloaked ship and watching the small Wraith fleet was AR-1, Mr Woolsey, Echidna and Todd.

"There are probably more ships waiting a short hyperspace jump away to ambush any attacking force," said Todd.

"I don't suppose that trying to jam their communications will do any good?" asked Sheppard.

"No," said Todd. "Even if you block their communications you cannot block their telepathy."

"Our only option is for me to beam down to the _Arima_ and attempt to communicate with the hive queens," said Echidna. "Hopefully they will listen to reason, but if not then I will have to destroy them as a show of strength."

"Well luckily our scans show the ship is abandoned," said Sheppard. "It'll take time for you to power the ship up and make orbit, in the mean time we'll provide cover for you in case they try anything."

"Those ships will most likely fire everything they have at you if they feel it necessary, said Echidna. "Are you sure your ship will be able to survive such an assault?"

"Don't worry about the _Weir_, she'll take whatever they throw at us and dish it back out," said Rodney, with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Hopefully Doctor McKay it will not come to that."

* * *

_**Arima**_** – Bridge **

In twin pillars of familiar white light Todd and Echidna appeared on the bridge. The bridge itself was styled in the typical layout of Wraith vessels, with one major difference. At the back of the bridge, raised so that it overlooked the rest of the room, was a Wraith throne chair.

Echidna walked over to the throne and sat down, sinking into it as the organic material moulded itself to her shape while the head of the throne moved forward to half encircle the crown of her head. This was the neural interface that would allow her to control the entire ship. The interface was based on the control chairs technology and so could only be controlled by Echidna alone.

Activating the interface she powered up the ships system, at the same time reactivating the ships central core processor. In other words she re-awoke Thypoeus.

"Echidna," echoed a voice from the past through the mental link. "You have returned to me."

"Hello Typhoeus," replied Echidna using the link. "I am sorry I took so long but I have good news."

She sent her most recent memories over the link, containing her encounters with the Tau'ri and the hope that they offered her and her children, and the gift she had been granted by them.

"So at last after all this time you and your children have a way to rejoin the people of the universe," said Typhoeus. "I am glad for you."

"Thypoeus you know that you are as much their father as I am their mother," she replied. "Without you we would not have had even the few peaceful years that we did. But now is not the time for this, we must leave this planet and make ourselves known to our children."

"I understand my love. The ships systems are fully operational and the Sentinels are all reporting that they are ready to launch."

"Then let us go, you have been trapped on this world for too long. It is time for you to be amongst the stars again."

* * *

**Wraith Hive ship in orbit - Bridge**

Manning one of the bridge consoles was a Wraith commander, the only commander in a fleet otherwise crewed solely by mindless drones and who was alerted to a change in normal activity by a bleeping of his console. Accessing the sensor readings to locate the apparent change he quickly noticed something distinctly unusual, for in all the years he had been a guardian of the treasure of this world he had never seen it happen, the _Arima_ was giving off power readings by itself.

Turning around he addressed his superiors in what he hoped was his most serious and calm voice.

"My Queens," he said. "I am detecting power readings from the _Arima_."

The two queens were standing together, seemingly silent in their musings. Although most likely they were talking to each other, as well as the other vessels commanders not to far away, using their telepathy. The two were a striking pair, both with flowing red hair and what in humans might be called a family resemblance to the keeper queen that Sheppard had killed all those years ago. They were quite similar looking and, given the Wraith genetics was somewhat limited when it came to differences in appearance, the only notable difference between them was the fact that one had a lighter shade of hair compared to the darker tones of the other.

They hissed in duet as they turned to face the commander that dared spout such lies at them.

"What do you think you are saying you fool?" said Stheno, the lighter haired of the two. "Such a thing is impossible."

"Check the logs," said Euryale. "If you used your brain to think you would probably find that there is a science team down their running experiments."

"My queens," said the commander, remaining firm. "There is no science team scheduled to be down there and according to the logs one has not left the ship."

The queens hissed in frustration and were about to shout at the commander to double check his obviously false findings when the console bleeped again. Turning back to it the commander's eyes widened in surprise.

"My queens," he said with his voice clearly showing his surprise. "Sensors are detecting that the _Arima_'s systems are all online and fully powered."

Before the queens could even respond to this latest piece of seemingly impossible information a voice from the past rang over the Wraith's telepathic link, amplified to a nearly deafening volume by the powerful transmitters on the _Arima_.

"Hear me my children. I am Echidna the Matriarch of all Wraith and I have returned."

"Mother!" was the daughters disbelieving reply.

"Hello my daughters I have returned to you at last and I bring with me a cure for your hunger. You need never feed on humans again. You can join the rest of the universe as friends not enemies. The people of the Tau'ri offer you a way to live amongst them as equals. Accept what I offer you my children for if you will not take this gift then I will not protect you."

The two queens were drunk with the power they believed their species still commanded over the galaxy. They shouted out together in unison, having long ago become of one mind.

"We will not accept this Mother, for we are the superior species. The hunters shall not submit to the demands of creatures we call our prey."

"You cannot stop me my daughters, the others will listen to me even if you will not. It is time for our species to begin a new era or perish."

"THEN IT IS YOU THAT SHALL PERISH MOTHER!"

And with those final words the Wraith ships powered their weapons and began to target the _Arima_.

* * *

_**Weir**_** - Bridge**

The entire ship was at battle ready conditions waiting for the moment when they would either be needed to spring into action or be told to stand down. As the crew on the bridge listened to the dialogue between mother and daughters, courtesy of Teyla's Wraith DNA, it seemed ever more likely that they would be forced to fight. Then, as the dialogue drew to a close, another voice dared to break the silence.

"Commander, all Wraith ships are altering their position and are powering weapons," said tactical.

Sheppard's reaction was immediate, "Keep us between them and the Arima. De-cloak and raise shields. Bring weapons online but hold on the Grodin. You know the plan people, main weapons to target the cruisers only. ISIS you're on point defence, set railguns to anti-fighter mode and target any and all darts."

The railguns double barrel gave them firing options their predecessors didn't have. Normally for ship to ship engagements they would fire simultaneously to provide maximum impact damage, as this was normally needed to break through the enemies armour. But fighters presented the problem of being able to avoid the shots your firing rather than surviving a hit from one. In order to counter this problem in anti-fighter mode the double barrels would alternate their fire, effectively doubling the rpm of the railguns at the cost of a lower yield shot but making them that much harder to avoid.

Cloak dropping, shields raising and weapons powering, the _Weir_ shimmered into visibility to the shock and surprise of the Wraith fleet. But even faced with a vessel that bore a startling resemblance to the warships of their old enemy the Wraith did not hesitate and opened fire immediately. Energy blasts quickly travelled the short distance between the ships and impacted on the shields of the _Weir_.But they held with against the assault, and now that the Wraith had fired their opening shots the _Weir_ would repay them in kind.

In a show of raw power every APB on the ship lanced out towards a different target, seemingly at once, with the short time between shots almost unnoticeable. In an instant most of the cruisers were either crippled our destroyed outright from the opening volley. Three ships exploded as their pierced reactors detonated, leaving nothing behind but atomic dust. Five ships simply lost all power as the beams tore through their hulls and severed the main power conduits. The other two just drifted, the command crew dead, as the beams had vaporised the bridge and a significant areas of the ship around it.

The remaining cruisers scattered, desperate to avoid the remains of their sister ships or worse join them in their fate. But dodging wreckage quickly proved to be the least of their problems as the eight forward mounted ICT's opened up on the remaining cruisers. The glowing white orbs tore towards their targets flying through space, some missing but the rest hitting. Two very unlucky cruisers, who had been unable to veer away without steering into the crippled ships around them, took the brunt of several blasts after being targeted by multiple turrets. Each shot, while nowhere near as powerful as an APB, still packed an impressive punch as both ships joined those around them as debris, with not a single Wraith onboard left alive. The other three cruisers were clipped by blasts, two of which had a wing section burnt off, leaving whole sections exposed to space, while the other lost an engine pod causing it to stop mid turn as the crew desperately tried to compensate. The cruisers that were still able to move were forced to retreat behind the hive ship while their hulls regenerated and the gaping wounds in their sides closed.

Seeing the devastation wrought by a single volley from the enemy vessel, and realising that their own volley had done relatively little in return to the enemy shields, the queens did the only thing they could. On the cruisers that still had power the hanger bay doors slid open to disgorge every dart that could be crewed, while the hive ship attempted to empty its massive hangers in one go. Meanwhile, behind the hive ship, space ripped open as four hyperspace windows opened disgorging four hive ships and their twelve cruiser escorts. The newly arrived ships began to head towards the remains of what had once been a proud wraith fleet ready to add their weight to the battle. The Tau'ri response was to blanket the oncoming swarms of darts with railgun fire and transfer additional energy to the shields while the Grodin powered up.

But whilst all this was happening the _Arima_ had powered her engines and was taking off from the surface. The ground shook as tons and tons of dirt, that had previously been attempting to cover the ship entirely, were dislodged and shifted off the ship to reveal the shining grey metallic bio-armour that made up the mighty ships hull. As the engines roared, the last of the dirt fell away and the ship came clear of the planets surface. Rising higher and higher into the atmosphere the ship quickly climbed through the stratosphere, burst through the exosphere and tore its way into outer space. Forced upwards by its massive engines the fifteen kilometre long hive ship like behemoth rose past the _Weir_ and turned towards the mere ten kilometre long hive before it, like a parent turning towards its child. As the colossal ship turned three, one kilometre long, cruiser like shapes detached from the underbelly of the ship and formed up in a defensive formation around the _Weir_, one above and one on either side. The _Weir_ ceased firing, and the darts swarmed and held back while the Wraith reinforcements ground to a halt alongside their queen's flagship. But even while all this was occurring the queen's hives continued to fire on the _Weir_, and that sealed their fate.

Once again Echidna's voice rang over the Wraith mental link.

"Hear me now my children, for I am Echidna the Matriarch to all Wraith. I offered my two daughters a cure for the hunger that curses you all, and yet my two daughters would reject such a thing and in turn tried to destroy myself and the _Arima_. When they saw this my friends the Tau'ri, the bringers of this cure, protected me and in thanks my daughters tried to destroy them as well. Now I grant the Tau'ri the permission to strike down those who fired the first shot, those who would harm their mother. Those who would reject what can save our race from destruction in an attempt to satisfy their own lusts for power. My daughters, to you I have only one thing to say." Echidna's eyes closed in sadness. "Goodbye."

"Target the enemy flagship and fire the Grodin," said Sheppard, silently praying this worked as well as hoped.

"Target locked and firing," said McKay.

The, thirty metre diameter, forward weapons emitter discharged a single lance of pure white energy, hurtling through space until it reached its target, the hive ship before it. The beam hit the tip of the ship and tore through the bio-armour like a knife through butter. Uninhibited by this meagre resistance the beam continued onwards, tearing through corridors until it encountered the armour layer on the outer hole. But still the beam was unaffected and carried onwards, through the armour and into the empty space in the middle of hive. Crossing the distance with little effort the beam once again encountered bio armour which it once again overcame and continued onwards, passing through the engines of the hive until it had split the ship in two. This all happened in an instant and all an observer would note was that a beam of energy lanced out and through the entire length of the hive splitting it in two. The hives reactors quickly realised what had happened and exploded, turning the two halves into space dust.

The reaction from the other Wraith ships was immediate. They powered down their weapons while the darts retreated back into hangers that were only too eager to accept them. The Wraith mental link was filled with the voices of commanders welcoming the return of the Matriarch and swearing that they would accept her decision and comply with her wishes. In response to this Echidna silenced them with a single command and ordered them to lend her their telepathy to send a message across the entire Wraith hive mind.

"Hear me my children, wherever you might be. I am Echidna, mother and Matriarch to the entire Wraith race and I have returned to you at last. I have returned with a cure to the hunger that plagues you my children, and this cure was brought to us by a people that you all know, the Tau'ri. They have offered us a way to live amongst the peoples of this universe as equals and I have accepted their offer, and as Matriarch my word is law. Know that they offer this to us out of kindness. See the images from your kindred and know that they have the power to destroy us if we choose to continue down the path that we are on. Today they used a small fraction of that power to destroy those that would try to doom our race by refusing their offer, and they did so with my permission. As of now any Wraith that refuses this offer and tries to feed on a human will be hunted down by me and feel the wrath of the _Arima_ and her three Sentinels. The choice is yours my children, but know that a new era now begins for our people and the ways of the old will end."


	9. Old Friends

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Sergeant Major Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. Echidna however is mine, and so are any of the ships that I proudly create.**

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**As some of you may have guessed there will eventually be new ships being built. The tricky part is coming up with appropriate names which is very important, so if you have any suggestions send them in and the best will become the names for the new BC - 305 class ships. Of course if you have suggestions for 304's be they American, Russian, etc then send them in.**

* * *

Review Responses

**DaniWilder: I'm glad you noticed and apreciated the effort, and your right the history of the Wraith took a lot of effort. The hard part was dealing with the flow of ideas, sometimes you just cannot type fast enough to get them all down.**

**Shadow of Realm: Everyone has a story, and with Wraith creepy stories are a given. Echidna was the first Wraith so hers was going to be something special.**

**Ruby Pena: Always nice to have a new reviewer, they are welcomed and encouraged. I fully intend to keep up the good work, and thus i present to you this new chapter.**

* * *

**P4X-650 – Pegasus-class ship – Bridge**

Sitting in the command chair of one of the latest ships to roll off the production line was General Jack O'Neill. A month had passed since he had given command of the _Weir_ to Colonel Sheppard and now his own ship was ready. That was the wonderful thing about industrial beams, if you shovel in enough resources you can build just about anything. This was of course without using pure energy to build the ship which not only took a long time but put a fair amount of strain on the generators themselves and dramatically reduced their life expectancy; even the most advanced generators created by the Asgard can only do so much. As such they would stick to just shovelling in raw resources than pushing the generators to the point where they were in danger of exploding as they burnt through their fuel at an alarming rate.

Interesting things had been happening in both galaxies in the past few weeks. One surprising thing was that the Nox had actually got in contact with them and asked that they swing by their planet to discuss something important. Exactly what they had wanted to talk about was not specified but given the nature of the Nox a meeting itself was a big leap forward. A requirement of this little meeting was that the original members of SG-1 all be present, which was handy as Cameron Mitchell had taken command of his own ship and he would hate to leave two ships without their Commanders. So while he was waiting for the others to arrive at the Alpha Site to be beamed up to the ship he was pondering everything that had been happening in Pegasus as of late.

He had to hand it to Sheppard and his team, they really knew how to stir things up, and in the space of just two weeks they had set the entire Pegasus galaxy down a whole new path. Not only had they established the Tau'ri as the dominant power but they had also managed to effectively neutralise the Wraith problem in one foul swoop. In the past few weeks the Matriarch Echidna had been gathering her people to her and getting them to submit to the genetic alterations. This was admittedly taking time, so those Wraith that were unconverted were forced to spend their time in hibernation pods. But they were getting eventually getting their treatment and hopefully they would soon be able to duplicate the genetic alteration technology to speed up the conversion process. Of course there was always going to be the issue of food but that was also being dealt with, the food replicators on the _Weir_ were being worked hard and large amounts of supplies were being channelled through Valley Forge. But they were also producing seeds for crops and the Athosians were educating the Wraith in farming and agriculture. On Wraith controlled worlds acre upon acre of land that had otherwise been unused were becoming farms to be tended to by converted drones as they learned the skills necessary to grow their foods. It was the worshippers that really had it hard though, what with the gift of life being off the table. So now they were taking up places managing the farms in order to stay out of trouble. Admittedly liking the Wraith was no longer a punishable offense, but liking them in order to save your own neck while allowing others to be fed on left a sour taste in even the mouths of those trying to encourage Wraith relations. According to Colonel Sheppard's official report, while they were still a long way from home base, they were certainly making progress towards the Wraith becoming an accepted member of the Pegasus galaxy. Or at the very least they didn't have reason to wipe them out anymore which was certainly a start, although that part was officially off the record.

As O'Neill saw it if they were willing to accept the change then they were all right by him. It was one thing to feed on humans when you have the choice but quite another to do so when you knew there was a better moral option. He wasn't about to declare war on them when they clearly choosing the path that was best for them and the rest of the galaxy. After all it was making the right choice that was what gave the Tok'ra one of their more endearing qualities and was what had separated them from the Goa'uld. If they could have a relationship with the Wraith that was at least as good as that with the Tok'ra then the Pegasus galaxy should be alright.

His musings were interrupted when his ships own ISIS appeared in front of him.

"Commander, the Alpha site is reporting that the rest of SG-1 is ready to beam up."

O'Neill smiled at the AI's words, they brought back good memories.

"Thank you ISIS, you can beam then up now."

"Aye Commander," she said before his old team appeared in a burst of light.

"Hey gang," said Jack. "Welcome aboard the _Enterprise_."

His former team resisted the urge to chuckle at the name, they knew how long he had been trying to swing it, and settled for a grin at seeing their old friend again.

"Good to be here Sir," said Sam, ever the professional. She was dressed in pretty much the same off-world gear she had worn to Baal's extraction ceremony, except in green, and O'Neill couldn't help but notice how well it fit her.

"Indeed, it is good to be here O'Neill," said Teal'c. Being an unofficial representative of the Jaffa he had opted for his silvery robes for this, hopefully, diplomatic mission.

"I bet you're glad you finally have your big honking space ship eh Jack," said Daniel. Who, like Sam, had gone for off world gear of the typical green variety.

"Ah a big honking space ship to call my own and the old gang are back together again," said a smiling Jack. "Could this day get any better?"

"For you? Probably not," said Daniel. "For me? Hopefully."

"How is Vala Mal Doran?" enquired Teal'c, with barely the hint of a smile.

Daniel sighed. "Annoyed at not being allowed to come, but I think it helped that Dr Lam offered to go shopping with her."

"What's wrong with that?" asked Sam. "Vala likes shopping so she probably won't mind that she missed out a diplomatic mission."

"Nothing," said Daniel. "Except I can't remember where I put one of my credit cards."

Everyone except Daniel burst out laughing at that point, and even some of the bridge crew chuckled. Odds were Daniel had left it under a stack of books in his office but knowing Vala there was always the chance that it was currently allowing a number of clothes items the chance to change owners. Luckily Vala was no where near as much of a thief as she used to be, her time with the SGC having taught her to behave a bit, and it wasn't as if the bill might come to much as she would at least show restraint. Odds were that Vala had just taken it so he would be scratching his head wondering where it had gone as pay back for leaving her behind, or she would just buy one or two small indulgences for herself with it.

"Okay gang," said Jack as the laughter died down. "It's time to hit the road. Helm, set course and take us into hyperspace."

With those words the ship came about and broke out of orbit. Soaring forwards the ship dove into the hyperspace window that opened before it.

* * *

**Nox Homeworld**

Above the jungle homeworld of the Nox the _Enterprise_ re-entered normal space, and gracefully manoeuvred into orbit. The planet below was seemingly uninhabited, even to even the powerful sensors of the Pegasus-class vessel and clearly they were far from infallible. O'Neill knew that, at the very least, an entire floating city was hovering somewhere, hidden from sight by the powerful abilities gifted to the Nox race. The presence of the Nox may have been unapparent but they apparently knew of the presence of the Tau'ri above their world.

"Sir," said the com officer. "We are receiving a transmission from the planet, exact source is unknown."

SG-1 turned to face the main screen in front of them as O'Neill said, "On screen."

The HUD appeared displaying the face of a very familiar Nox. On the screen before them was the smiling face of Lya. She hadn't aged a day since they last saw her.

"Welcome people of the Tau'ri it is good to see you all again after so long," she said.

Jack, being the man in charge, was the first to speak. "Likewise Lya, it's nice to visit your world again, even if we are just in orbit."

"My apologies for the necessity of your use of ships to reach us," she replied, having realised the hidden point. "However my people have decided to keep the stargate buried for now, and we would rather you be able to visit us at your own convenience rather than our own."

Jack smiled at the sentiment. "Oh don't worry about it. I was looking for an excuse to take my new ship out for a spin anyway."

Lya returned his words with a smile of her own. "I am glad that we were able to help you in this matter then."

"So what made you think to give us a call?" asked O'Neill. "Your message said you had something important to discuss but I can't really think what would need from us."

His puzzlement was not unfounded. The Nox were quite possibly the last of what had been the four great races, and were significantly advanced in their own right. It was hard to believe that they would call on the up and coming Tau'ri, preferring to remain isolated to maintain their personal sense of peace, even if they had been called the fifth race by the late Asgard.

"I have indeed a matter of great importance to discuss with you. It is believed by many of us that without your assistance it will not reach a satisfactory conclusion."

That statement shocked everyone, the Nox were asking for their help. The very idea was more terrifying than it was flattering. The good General seemed slightly lost for words which allowed Daniel to jump in.

"Lya what is it you need our help with exactly?"

"It is a delicate matter," she said hesitantly. "If you would beam down to the co-ordinates I am sending you though we should be able to resolve this quickly."

There was something in the way she spoke that made them think the situation was a lot more complicated than it seemed. It had to be if she thought they could solve the problem merely by beaming down for a quick chat. In the background Sam moved over to a console and brought up the co-ordinates they were being sent.

O'Neill seemed to reach a decision. "Okay fine we'll beam down in a couple of minutes."

Lya nodded in response and terminated the transmission on her end.

Jack turned to face his former team, a sense of nostalgia overtaking him for a moment. It was just like old times.

"So team, thoughts?" he asked.

Daniel sighed. "Well what can I say? In many ways this is a dream come true, but we still don't have a clue what they expect of us."

"He has a point sir," said Carter. "The Nox asking us for assistance means they think we have some skill that they don't. Although I can't for the life of me think of what it may be."

Teal'c had seemingly been pondering something for the past few minutes and it was only now he spoke. "The people of the Tau'ri have become greatly respected and feared by many in recent years, and the exploits of SG-1 are known to many. It may be possible that this respect is the reason that they have chosen us."

"That's true," conceded Carter. "If the Nox know that the Asgard entrusted their legacy to us then that might have swayed their views in our favour."

"And if our experience is anything to go by then I doubt it's that they have found themselves in some kind of trouble," added Daniel. "The Nox are a very peaceful race, couple that with the fact that almost no one knows about them it would be rather difficult for them to get into a scrap with anyone."

O'Neill mulled this all over. "Okay so we have no clue what we're looking at but it's probably not anything to dangerous. At the worst we're looking at a very dull session of diplomacy. So any idea where we're heading? I'd rather not try materialising between decks."

"I actually checked out the coordinates she sent us," said Carter. "Don't ask me how but the sensors can detect what I can only assume is a room. It's in mid air but that's not really surprising from what we've seen."

"Okay fine we beam down there and see if we can get some answers."

The team materialised inside a wide room. From the general configuration this was most likely a viewing gallery, as one long silvery wall was missing entirely and instead in its place was a balcony allowing them to see the thriving jungle beneath. The rooms design was strangely familiar to the team and its curving pillars set into the walls reminded them of what little Asgard architecture they had seen.

From behind them, in the direction of the door, came a very familiar, and loud, voice that they had not heard in years. "Comtraya, it is good to see you again my friends."

Hardly able to believe it they all spun around to see, standing just inside the doorway, a smiling Harlan. Jack, with his years of training coming to his aid, recovered first.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he almost shouted. He still couldn't believe that Harlan, of all people, was actually here.

Harlan was seemingly unaffected by Jack's outburst and was still smiling as he began to speak. But before he could get out a single word he was cut off by the arrival of the Nox delegation through the door behind him. The group consisted of Lya, Anteaus and Ohper. The day was certainly bringing up a whole host of old faces.

"He is here General," said Anteaus, in a level voice. "Because like you all he was asked to be here."

O'Neill took a deep breath and then exhaled in a sigh in an attempt to keep his emotions in check. "Okay fine he was asked to be here and, although I may regret asking this, are we all here for the same reason or did you think that we would appreciate the chance to see old faces?"

"I take it that you are referring to fact that it is us three you are talking to rather than someone you do not know General," said Lya.

"I think that about covers it," he replied.

"It is us that you are talking to because it is our purpose to be the ones to talk to you," said Ohper.

"You mean you're the Nox's ambassadors," said Daniel.

Ohper smiled at the young having become wiser, "Very well done Doctor Jackson. We are indeed our people's ambassadors."

Daniel seemed slightly humbled at the praise of the old Nox. "Ah, well it wasn't really that much of leap really."

A thought seemed to have occurred to Colonel Carter which led to her question. "How did you know we had beaming technology?"

Teal'c seemed to be going on a similar train of thought to the Colonel, most likely it was because of the warriors inside them constantly analysing the situation. "Indeed, there are not many who know of the full abilities of the people of the Tau'ri."

"Yeah and it's not like you guys tend to go out and about to find out these things," added O'Neill.

"You are correct in your summations," said Ohper, showing off a little telepathy. "We were told of your new advancements by our allies."

That only puzzled them more, the Nox were not known for having any allies aside from being members of the four great races.

"Who?" they asked in unison.

The Nox smiled slightly at their reaction.

"By him," said Lya gesturing at the doorway.

Listening carefully they could hear the sound of gentle footsteps echoing down the corridor. In the doorway a lone figure appeared. The figure was unclothed and, surprisingly, of thin and almost human proportions. This was surprising because the figure was, without a doubt, an Asgard.

The Asgard dropped its head, scrunched up its features and let a drawn out "Oh no" in the unmistakeable voice of Thor. The sudden appearance of his supposedly dead friend rather pushed O'Neill over the edge as he struggled to with the numerous emotions dealing inside of him.

"Okay will someone please explain to me what the hell is going on," he practically shouted.

* * *

After a little while Jack had calmed down significantly, although he was still a little peeved he was happy to see his old friend again. They were currently all sitting around a plain metallic table that had been beamed in to the room.

"Okay, I think its explanation time," said O'Neill, clapping his hands together as he spoke.

Thor sighed, "I am sorry for the deception O'Neill, however it was necessary. I did not lie when I said my people were dying."

"Well clearly you fixed the problem," said O'Neill.

"Indeed," added Teal'c. "In fact you appear to be more like your ancestors than your previous forms."

"That is true," Thor admitted. "However our new form is not a result of our studies into cloning new bodies from our ancestors DNA. In fact that particular avenue of research eventually failed to save my people."

"Then I'm guessing that is why Harlan is here," said Sam.

For the first time so far Thor stopped looking ashamed and actually smiled, his more human like features allowing for a greater visual display of emotion.

"Good guess Colonel Carter. It is thanks to Harlan and his people's technology that we were able to gain these new bodies."

Harlan added the next part of the story.

"These people, the Asgard, came to my world two years ago as you had done. It seems they had learned of my existence from your own records of our encounters. Only instead of exploring they came for my help. They studied my android body as well as any empty ones I could make, and I gave them what knowledge I had. By combining the designs with their own technology they were able to improve the android bodies as well as modify them to their own needs, hence the change from their previous forms."

"Surely that can be a problem for you though," said Carter. "From our experience we know that the android bodies require constant recharge or their power cells drain quite quickly."

"One of the modifications that the Asgard made to all of the android bodies is to include a small naquadah power generator that will not require replacement fuel for quite some time to come. As thanks for my help they also gave me a new body with the upgrades. This new body is much more durable, stronger and faster thanks to the advanced computer core that my mind resides in." He smiled. "With this new body I can explore the galaxy. I see now why you find it so appealing, there is much to see and as time passes there are even more new things to see. I fear that infinity will not be long enough to enjoy them all."

He seemed truly ecstatic at the thought of being able to explore the galaxy to his hearts content, and really they couldn't blame him. He had been stuck alone on his homeworld for thousands of years and had never had the chance to leave and explore the galaxy and meet new people. It was no wonder that he had made duplicates of them just so that he would not have to be alone. Not to mention the fact that he had probably been in need of help to maintain the power generators that kept him alive.

"So if you don't have the problem of needing new bodies why are you still hiding your existence from everyone?" asked Daniel looking at Thor.

They all turned to Thor at that point. Everyone wanted an answer to the question that had been on their minds since the beginning.

"Yeah and why did you blow up your homeworld just to make us think you were dead?" added O'Neill.

"At that point our own attempts to cure our genetic condition had failed. As a result we decided to search out other alternatives and so we scoured your records of your encounters with other worlds and found out about Harlan, but our experiments with android bodies were still in their infancy. Even if we did find a way to succeed we would still need time to recover and since there was still the problem of the Ori invasion we knew you would need help to defeat them. Since we believe you had become the fifth race and were ready to accept new responsibilities we decided to give you the tools you would need, including our prototype weapons and our database. With the Nox hiding our ships presence we destroyed our homeworld and all other remnants of our technology leaving the illusion of our extinction. This also had the added advantage of making the Ori think we were dead as they had been making incursions into our own galaxy as well. If the need arose we believed that we could reveal our presence and provide assistance against them once we had finished our research. When you quickly defeated the Ori however we realised that our trust had not been misplaced and you were indeed the fifth race, and so capable of standing on your own. You have achieved much in the past two years and I believe that you will continue to achieve much in the coming times without our help. So we decided to remain hidden and hopefully we will eventually solve our genetic problems."

"If that's all true then why are we here?" asked O'Neill. He was experiencing a range of emotions from pride, at being acknowledged by Thor, to sadness that his friend had chosen to fake his and his people's death. But right now suspicion was taking the driving seat.

Surprisingly Thor glared at the Now representatives, demonstrating another emotion his new features were capable of displaying.

"I suspect," he said, in a slightly annoyed tone. "That some people felt that our decision was not the right one and have chosen to interfere."

"I think you will find Thor that we have not unnecessarily chosen to interfere," said Ohper. "You asked for our help to preserve your way of life, and that is what we are trying to achieve here. You have chosen to hide yourselves needlessly when you have no reason to, and have left your own responsibilities to others. Even with your technology the Tau'ri still have some ways to go. It is true that they have great potential but they still need someone to help them along the right path lest they stray from it."

"They have a point Thor," said Daniel. "We would rather have you guys around than see you gone. There is still so much that you have to offer the people of this galaxy that we can't."

"We have given you the entire knowledge of our race and the means to protect the worlds listed under the protected planets treaty," said Thor. "What more do we have to offer you?"

"Thor, I would normally be the last to admit that we have a long way to go but the truth is we do," said O'Neill. "You guys are way smarter than most of our geniuses combined and even with the database you gave us we are still a long way from using it to benefit our world."

"Simply put we don't have enough people with the knowledge to properly use the technology we are being given," said Carter. "Looking through the database I would be lucky if I understood a small percentage of it. What we need is someone to teach our people about the knowledge you've given us. If we can increase the number of people who understand even some of the basics of the technology at our disposal then we can slowly bring our entire world into the fold."

"My own people would also benefit from your help," added Teal'c. "Since we have been set free from the Goa'uld we have achieved much to becoming individuals, however we still need help. While we can replicate and maintain our technology there are few that understand how it works, and those that do are those are being over tasked. If we are ever to advance as a people we need someone to teach us. However we cannot ask the Tau'ri to do this for us as they are busy trying to educate their own people. Also there are those who still resent the Tau'ri for the superiority that they show over us. It was with their help that we were finally freed from our enslavement a feat we were unable to achieve by ourselves. However if a race that even the Goa'uld feared offered us help to become stronger then I believe that the Jaffa would become more united as a people and that we would be able to become more independent. I will not ask you to gift my people with the same technology as the Tau'ri as I know that they have earned it. I merely ask that you help us to understand the technology that we have so that we might one day be as worthy of your recognition as they are."

It was a speech full of honesty and praise, causing Thor's resistance to wane with every word. It was true, the Jaffa were still progressing as an independent nation. While they were building ships of their own and incorporating the upgrades that the ships of Anubis had flaunted against them many times in combat, they still lacked an innate understanding of the technology to make advancements of their own. This was slightly moderated by the fact that certain aspects of their technology could be improved by channelling more power into them. So by adding more generators to their ships they could improve the overall operating efficiency but this was far from a long term solution.

Thor sighed emotionally. His reasons for arguing against the idea for the Asgard to become a part of the Milky Way's affairs were dwindling to the point where even he could not believe in them. But he still had one fall back left to him and while admittedly it was his weakest card to play at this point it was the only card he had left. He turned to the Nox representatives.

"Surely all of this violates your own policies of none interference. You pride yourselves on not taking sides or interfering in the affairs of others and yet you brought them here," he said, gesturing to SG-1. "Why couldn't you just leave us be, to choose our own path? Why not just let us carry on as we were? What business is of yours?"

In the face of this onslaught the Nox all remained calm and kept their faces neutral, they would probably make excellent poker players.

"It is our business Thor because you made it so," said Ohper. "You asked for our help in hiding your continued existence whilst you did what you needed to be done to saves your race from extinction. But now that task has been accomplished and yet you still hide your existence, from the universe and from your friends. In being here you are under our protection and we need to protect you from your own pride. You fear that you are not the same great race that struck terror into the Goa'uld so that you might protect what human worlds you could, and yet you are right. You had realised that you cannot be solely independent if you wish to be a power in this universe and that is why you asked for the help of the Tau'ri. But now you are reverting to your old ways and it is those ways that led to your downfall in the first place. Listen to your Tau'ri friends, like us they do not want to see you fall again. You are still a member of a great race Thor, and great races should not hide themselves from those that they have done so much to help."

Thor hung his head. His last card had been played and he had no more fight left in him. But he knew that the other members of the Asgard High Council would still need some convincing, for they were suffering from the same fears as he was and he would need a very good reason to become a greater part of the universe again. He nodded, his decision made.

"I will speak to the others and try to convince them," he said. "However I think I will need more information about the current state of galactic affairs if I am to fully convince them." He smiled. "I suspect you have caused many changes in more than one galaxy."

SG-1 then proceeded to give them a brief breakdown of what had happened over the past two years, providing details on the more recent events, including the encounters with Echidna and the Pegasus Asgard.

"I see," said Thor, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. "So the Vanir are still around and performing experiments on humans no less."

"I think an expedition to the Pegasus galaxy to deal with them would certainly merit your reappearance in galactic affairs don't you think?" said Daniel. "I've had first hand experience of dealing with these guys and they certainly don't have as much compassion as you do. I'm not pointing fingers but it would be better if you guys dealt with it rather than us. Quite frankly, if anyone from the Pegasus expedition got a hold of them then they would probably return the favour for what they did to the humans of the galaxy, and I can't really blame them."

"At the very least you can use it as a good excuse for why you made yourselves known again," said Jack. "Personally I would rather avoid wiping them off the map for choosing the wrong path because they were terrified of the Wraith, but from our point of view we are expected to retaliate. But if a great race like the Asgard were to step in to deal with a group of their own that they thought had been lost, well I doubt there are many that would argue them leaving the galaxy to go back where they came from. And of course having all of their research confiscated in the hope that some good would some day come out of it would not necessarily be a bad thing either."

The implications were obvious. The Asgard could make their reappearance and would deal with an issue that had been left unresolved for some time now. They would hopefully even manage to get some research out of it that would bring them one step closer to solving their genetic issues, which would of course mean that they would not need to hide their presence anymore if their was a chance at hope.

Thor smiled. "I should tell you that the entire Asgard Council is most likely watching these discussions and I suspect that they will like your idea very much."

Over the ships intercom an Asgard voice rang through the room, "We do indeed Thor."

Thor smiled at his friends, "Then it seems we have a Pegasus expedition of our own to plan."


	10. Who told you they were dead?

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Sergeant Major Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. Echidna however is mine, and so are any of the ships that I proudly create.**

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**As some of you may have guessed there will eventually be new ships being built. The tricky part is coming up with appropriate names which is very important, so if you have any suggestions send them in and the best will become the names for the new BC - 305 class ships. Of course if you have suggestions for 304's be they American, Russian, etc then send them in.**

**Yes it is another chapter in the Milky Way galaxy, but what is happening in the Milky Way is far to important to just leave out. After all their is still much to do and lots of shiny new toys that i have created for me to introduce you to.**

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Review Responses

**DaniWilder: The best tricks are those done with ways that people have almost forgotten about but love all the same, like making of Harlan to bring back the Asgard.**

**Shadow of Realm: Trust me i have plenty more tricks up my slave, after all i have to keep things interesting.**

**Ruby Pena: I am glad you approve, enjoy the next chapter**

**Scotius: Your right it did suck that the Asgard had to go just for Earth to get some shiny new space toys, however i think i found a fair way around that problem. An alliance of races may be possible but not the original though, anything done now would be something very different indeed.**

******ainokea2810: I am sorry you did not find this story sooner. Putting these pieces together is not the problem the issue is balancing them all so that readers such as yourself do not get bored.**

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**Galara - Present**

In the past the vibrant world of Galar had prospered under the protection of the protected planets treaty. Free from the threat of Goa'uld attack the people had prospered and reached almost unparalleled heights when compared to most worlds in the galaxy. But still the sheltered life that they had lived had left them with one disadvantage that could lead to their destruction if not for the protection they had received. While in some areas the people of Galar had advanced substantially they had never made many advancements in terms of space travel and defensive technologies. They had never had much need for the ability to travel through space or fight off alien spaceships, not with the Asgard constantly watching over them. But the Asgard had been out of the picture for some time now, and so the responsibilities of protecting the planets had been dumped on the laps of the Tau'ri. If it weren't for the initial gift of weapons technology from the Asgard they would have found this a difficult task even with the wealth of information contained in the Asgard database. It was this knowledge that had been used to create the ship that now sat in orbit around the planet.

She was the latest ship to come off the line, brand new and the first of her kind. The BC-305 known, for reasons that enemies wished they would not have to, as the Achilles-class. She looked remarkably similar in shape to the Daedalus-class, at least from a distance anyway. If you saw the ship up close then you would immediately spot that the hanger pods on either side of the ship had undergone some serious redesigning. If you were to compare a 305 to a 304 then you would say that the hanger doors had been moved forwards slightly and been replaced with a single solid piece of metal and had two ball turrets affixed to each of them. These turrets were identical to the ICT's on the Pegasus-class and featured the same amount of deadly fire power with each shot, and just above them, and resting on the tops of the wings, was an additional turret. Behind this turret, on the roof of the wings, was a large hanger door which allowed access to the much more compact battlecruiser hanger. Since the only ships in the only craft that the Tau'ri had that was capable of manoeuvring like a VTOL were the transport shuttles or puddle jumpers, that is until the first tactical transport got past the prototype stage, one shuttle was placed in each hanger. Of course this presented the issue of not being able to launch fighter craft for support, but then of course the ship was designed to bring overwhelming firepower against any and all opposition. The additional weapons on top of the now standard 304 compliment of weaponry meant the ship was everything the designers had hoped for.

But despite being the next in line after the Daedalus-class the ship had not come into active ship until after the first 306. This was because the 305 had to undergo a certain amount of redesigning as new technologies came to light. Where as the Pegasus-class was designed from the ground up, thus, surprisingly, making the design easier to plan, the 305 had been a modification of the 304's design. The idea was to create a ship that could be built in the same shipyard as a 304 but would boast a greater amount of firepower. The 306 design however had been rushed into production so quickly that it was the only ship that could be built in the Argus shipyards, as the other berths were still under construction. With the recent completion however, and the flood of resources now being directed at the newly completed shipyards, the first 305 had been built and the _Achilles_ had taken flight and immediately been put into action. Her current mission was to deploy a sensor net around each of the protected planets in the treaty, as well the worlds of the allies that the Tau'ri had made over the years, such as Langara. And so the _Achilles_ now sat in orbit around Galar while her two shuttles finished putting the last of the sensor platforms in position.

In the command chair sat one Colonel Cameron Mitchell. His promotion had been the result of his impressive work during his time as leader of SG-1 and, more importantly, so that General O'Neill had as many people that he could trust and count on in important positions as possible. People who knew what it was like out their and had had some experience against the dangers the galaxy had to offer. He himself had a fair amount of experience with the dangers heading their way, as he was about to learn.

"Commander the last of the sensor platforms is in position. Transports are standing by for conformation signal." The shuttles would stand by until they received conformation that the platforms were all transmitting, after all they might need to pick up a defective platform.

"Status of the sensor net?" he responded.

"Subspace link has been established. All platforms are responding and readings are in the green."

Cam nodded. "Okay lets test this thing out, give me a full sensor sweep at maximum range."

"Scanning now sir" The crewman sounded alarmed when he next spoke. "Sir, sensors at detecting ten Ha'tak class vessels in hyperspace and on course to this system."

"Time to arrival?" he asked.

"Three hours."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Good thing we were in the area." He straightened his features straightening into a serious face. "Science, tap into the subspace sensor link and find the nearest available ship in response range. Com, get me Emissary Varta on the line, if we're going to have a fire fight up here it would be a good idea to let them know."

"Sir," said the science crewman. "The only available ship in range is the _Enterprise_, sensors place them one hour away."

Cam mentally chuckled, of the course the only available ship would be the Milky Way fleets fastest ship. Not to mention being the Generals personal flagship and carrying the original SG-1 to boot.

"Sir," said the com crewman. "I have Emissary Varta online."

"Good work," he replied. "Send a subspace data burst to the _Enterprise_ advising them of our situation and put Varta on."

On the main viewport the latest HUD technology came into play and Varta's image appeared onscreen.

"Commander Mitchell," said Varta. "I understand you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes Emissary," Cam replied diplomatically. "We have installed the sensor net as agreed, and it's operating perfectly. However we have detected a fleet of ships on route to this system, I don't suppose that you have any knowledge of visitors on route."

It was a long shot he knew but he did have to ask, after all it wasn't a good idea to shoot guests. However the Emissaries stern face only confirmed his suspicions.

"No we were not, will you be capable of defending us from this fleet if they turn out to be hostile?"

"We're calling in reinforcements in case they do turn out to be hostile which will be here before the unknowns. With reinforcements we can handle the entirety of the unknown fleet and you should have nothing to worry about. Obviously we'll warn them that this system is under our protection and hopefully you may be looking at diplomatic relations with some new people."

"Hopefully Commander that will be the case," he said calmly before severing the transmission.

Cam sighed, some people never changed. Still ever since that whole memory incident the two of them had not been on the best of terms. It was no secret that Cam didn't like the fact that Varta had seen the expertise that a scientist possessed was worth the lack of justice for the murder of an innocent woman. It didn't help that that same man had decided to frame Cam and implant him with the memories of killing her.

"Com, any response from the _Enterprise_," he asked a little more vocally than was necessary.

"Transmission is coming through now sir."

"On screen."

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**Nox Homeworld**

The group had just finished guilt tripping the Asgard into rejoining the rest of the galaxy at large and Thor was feeling especially down. He had been under the impression that these talks were being recorded and he was going to be forced to try to convince the entire Asgard council that they should rejoin the people of the galaxy. Only now he found out that they had been listening all along. He strongly suspected that his little episode of torture had been the result of his push to give the Tau'ri the technology and information that the Asgard had always held out from them.

Jack noticed the slightly downtrodden look on his friends face as the general joy of the Asgard's return died down. While the others had formed their own little groups he walked over to his old friend and patted him on the shoulder.

"Cheer up buddy. Now that we're past the administrative problems we can get down to work."

Thor smiled, after all his friend was right. Now that the decision had been made as Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet he would have a large amount of control over the future expedition, as well as any other deployments of ships in this galaxy or another.

"You are right O'Neill, and maybe I will able be able to show you just what this ship can do," he said with a slightly mischievous grin.

Jack raised an eyebrow at that and looked around at the room. "Isn't this one of your Beliskner's or an O'Neill? It doesn't really look much like one of your science vessels."

Thor chuckled. "This ship is called _Valhalla_, and it is of a kind that you have never before seen."

"So what kind of ship is it?"

Before Thor could utter a reply the unfamiliar voice of an Asgard came over the com system.

"Supreme Commander we are receiving a transmission from the Tau'ri vessel in orbit, it's for General O'Neill."

"Lower the communications block and allow the transmission through," said Thor.

"Acknowledged Supreme Commander," the voice replied.

Appearing in her regular unannounced fashion the image of ISIS, the _Enterprise_'s independent AI, appeared before the pair.

"Commander I have a priority one message for you from Commander Mitchell."

O'Neill frowned; he knew that Mitchell and the _Achilles_ were deploying sensor nets around protected planets, a task that would still be necessary as the Asgard would be too busy re-establishing themselves in their own galaxy to guard those worlds. If he had a priority one message for him then that most likely meant trouble, and it would be trouble that could not be handled alone.

"What is the message ISIS?"

"A fleet of ten Ha'tak class vessels, type unknown, are on route to Galar, eta three hours. The reason for the fleet's presence is unknown but the presence of the _Enterprise_ is requested to guarantee a decisive victory in case of hostile intent," summarized ISIS.

O'Neill nodded. While it was true that the _Achilles_ would probably win in a fight against ten regular Ha'tak's there was always that unknown factor. And of course there was also the chance that if the fighting spilled too close to the planet any stray shots could cause significant damage to the Galaran civilisation. In any case the _Enterprise_ would be needed to make sure that nothing went wrong.

"Stand by to send a reply to the _Achilles_ and have the _Enterprise_ ready to leave," he ordered.

He turned to Thor, "Galar is one of the worlds you tasked us to protect Thor, and I intend to do just that. Care to some along and see the show."

Thor smiled. "I would O'Neill and I think I will bring the _Valhalla_ with me."

O'Neill grinned. He was certainly looking forward to getting a look at a new Asgard vessel.

"Send a message to the _Achilles_ advising them that we will be joining them immediately and that we will have some friends coming with us, message ends," he said to ISIS.

"Aye Commander," said ISIS before vanishing.

O'Neill turned to his team, "Come on kids we've got work to do."

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**Galar System**

The _Achilles_ had moved some distance away from the planet so that it was free to manoeuvre without interference from the planets gravity. The unknown fleet was due to arrive at any moment and Mitchell had a lot of questions for them.

"Sir, unknown fleet is exiting hyperspace."

In front of the _Achilles_ a single massive hyperspace window opened and ten Ha'tak class vessels emerged. While the general shape of a Ha'tak had remained the same during the millennia that the Goa'uld had ruled in recent years the design had undergone several modifications, both in internal and external design. The original and thus most common design were classed as Type A. These ships had no modifications in their design or the technology incorporated to them and as such could only fire 1/3 of their weapons in a single volley due to their power generating limitations. Type B ships were those that had been put into service by Anubis after he used his limited knowledge to upgrade the shields of his vessels. Vessels of this type had shields that were half the power of those on the original _Daedalus_ rather than the typical third, such an upgrade was relatively easy to make and extremely cost effective making the vessels that much more dangerous.

The Type C vessels however could not simply be made through upgrades, rather they had to be built. The idea for the design actually came from those in the Free Jaffa Nation, who were being educated by the Tau'ri about the technology that they were using as part of the alliance between them. The Jaffa had quickly realised that the Tau'ri were not about to simply give them advanced technology, and that such a reliance would not benefit them long term if they then could not advance on their own. As such they had tried to use their knowledge of the technology at their disposal to improve upon the design of their ships and the Type C was what they came up with. The gaps in each of the triangular tips of the superstructure had all been filled and covered with armour. This not only had the effect of strengthening the superstructure itself but gave them a large amount of space to use, and use it they did. In the sizable gaps they placed three secondary generators and power conduits to reach every one of the ships major systems. With these generators feeding power into the whole ship the abilities of the vessel had been greatly improved. The shields, which when combined with the Type B upgrades gave the ship two thirds that of the original _Daedalus_, which was impressive given the Jaffa's lack of advanced technology. The ship was capable of firing half of its weapons in a single volley, bringing an impressive amount of firepower to bear against an enemy. But the greatest addition were six plasma cannons originally designed and built by the Jaffa, these weapons were placed on the top and bottom of each of the wings of the vessel. The design themselves was quite simple as they were simply the ships main weapons but double the size and power. As the Jaffa's knowledge of their technology improved it was believed the design could be improved further by compressing the size of plasma bolts and thus offering a greater punch for the same amount of power. Of course to operate vessels such as these a redesign of the bridge was needed. As such, while the main systems remained the same, there were now two additional weapon control stations installed as well as a sensor station in support of the standard helms station.

But the ships that had appeared before the _Achilles_ appeared to be of the more common Type A, but it was always possible they were Type B. Unfortunately they wouldn't know until the ships actually raised their shields. The Ha'tak's were manoeuvring into formation, forming a thin curve arcing around the Tau'ri vessel. This didn't really make much difference as the ships were keeping their distance from the Tau'ri vessel and the agile battle cruiser could easily manoeuvre to out flank the ships if necessary.

"Raise shields and power weapons but don't target the unknowns yet," ordered Mitchell. "Hail them. Let's see what they have to say for themselves."

"Communications link established sir," said the com crewman.

"This is Commander Mitchell of the Tau'ri ship _Achilles_," he said. "This system is a member of the protected planets treaty and is under our protection. State your identity and your intentions."

On the screen in front of him appeared the face of a man with dark slicked back hair.

"I am Kefflin of the Lucian Alliance," he said, although it more like a growl. "I hereby claim this system in the name of the Lucian Alliance. You will leave our space or be destroyed."

"Think again Kefflin," retorted Cameron, his face set in stone. "You have no claim to this system and any attempt at invasion will be met with immediate retaliation. You have two minutes to withdraw."

Kefflin smirked. "You are outmatched here, pitiful Tau'ri. Leave now or I will capture your ship and torture your crew."

"You are wrong Kefflin, you are the one who's outmatched. I repeat you will leave this system within one minute or we have the permission of the Asgard to eliminate any threats to the local populace. That includes you."

"The Asgard have met their end already worm and now all that remains to protect this world is your pathetic little ship." He scowled. "I heard about how you took my name and humiliated my friend. I shall enjoy torturing you personally."

With a final smirk he severed the connection.

"Sir, enemy ships are raising shields and powering weapons."

"Bring us about. Power weapons and raise shields. Tactical what do you make of their ships?"

"Flagship is Type B, all others Type A."

"Proceed as planned."

It was to be expected that the best ship available would be the flagship and the enemy had not disappointed them, besides Type B ships were rare outside the FJN. Either way it didn't alter the plan in the slightest.

As the enemy moved forwards to surround the battle cruiser the _Achilles_ swung to the right and charged forwards. Seeing the attempt to evade their sights the heavy plasma cannons on the Ha'tak let loose their contained fury and sent bolt after bolt of plasma at the little ship. As the battle cruiser charged towards the wing of ships on her right bolts from those very ships impacted her shields while bolts coming the other way missed her completely, unable to hit the agile ship at such a distance. Even as the dozen bolts impacted her shields the _Achilles_ was readying its response. Plasma beams lanced out towards the enemy, four lances tore towards the two closest ships, overwhelming the shields on the vessels with ease. Unabated by the weak shields the beams tore onwards to scorch the hulls of the ships as they scored glancing hits against the vessels. Then the ICT's opened fire on the stricken vessels with low powered precision shots at the hyperdrive, engines and hangers of the two vessels.

The result was both ships stopping dead in the water as the inertia less drives cut out, and without a hyperdrive they couldn't even flee the battlefield. But the worse was when the hanger bay doors were ripped open and crewman boarding gliders and transports were swept into space before the emergency force fields could activate.

Unseen, but clearly acknowledged, orders were given as the Tau'ri tactics were realised. The remainder of the fleet surged towards the planet, in a bid to make the nimble enemy come to them and leave them to exact revenge on the innocent populace, while the _Achilles_ swerved back around towards the withdrawing fleet. The two stricken Ha'tak's suddenly found themselves out of the fight as the enemy moved away from them and out of the range of their weapons. As the Lucian ships moved onwards the _Achilles_ struggled to catch them with their head start, but luckily they didn't have to.

Dropping her cloak, raising her shields and powering weapons the _Enterprise_ appeared right in the path of the oncoming fleet of Ha'tak's who screeched to a stop at the sight of the 1100 metre long ship bristling with weapons, weapons which proceeded to fire. In a single morale breaking move the _Enterprise_ struck out with its main weapon. The white beam of light burst out of the emitter and connected with Kefflin's flagship. The upgraded shields held for a millisecond before succumbing to the force of the weapons white hot power, the beam continuing onwards to strike the hull of the ship that the shields had failed to protect. The wing of the ship was torn through with ease, the force of the impact was so sudden that and so unstoppable that the ship hardly shook as the prong was severed and the ship crippled. Every other Ha'tak scattered desperately trying to get out of the firing arc of the deadly weapon.

But the other Ha'tak's were not spared either as they received the same treatment that the _Achilles_ had dealt to the ships she had faced. Plasma beams lanced out and collapsed shields while ion bolts neutralised engines. The entire fleet was floating dead in space unable to move, unable to defend themselves from another assault and out of range of the planet to fire even a petty revenge shot.

The Lucian fleet was entirely at the mercy of the Tau'ri and they knew it. This was why Kefflin was so quick to contact them.

"I am willing to surrender," he spat out, with visible effort.

"This is Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill, while I would love to accept your surrender the authority to do so falls to the Asgard."

"The Asgard are dead!"

"Wrong, and I suggest you look through the nearest window because they are coming up right behind you."

Behind the crippled fleet a massive hyperspace window tore open and a massive ship emerged from it. The massive 24 km long Asgard ship was the same silver colour as the O'Neill class and general shape was almost identical to an O'Neill, with the same main shaft and curving wings giving the ship a width of 15 km. The head of the ship bore the same smooth flat front as the O'Neill while running along the shaft were three ever rising cylinders connecting to a 5 km high rectangular section connecting to circular disc that supported a series of Asgard designed skyscrapers. Around the edge of the disc were a series of domes while in the centre was a massive circular control tower rising dwarfing all the others. Along the top and bottom of each of the wings was a number of curving fins, each twice the size of the fins on an O'Neill with barrels emerging from them, with eight running along the front and back of the wings. In the middle of each of the back rows of the fins was a single massive fin with a sunken section in the middle of the curve. The ship represented everything that the Asgard was and it oozed raw power and technological superiority. On the screen next to Kefflin's own image appeared the face of Thor.

"This is Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard ship _Valhalla_," he said. "You are guilty of hostile actions against a world under both our protection and the protection of the Tau'ri. You were warned of the consequences and still chose to foolish attack our allies and by extension the Asgard themselves."

Kefflin had by now visibly sagged at the arrival of the Asgard ship. He barely had the ability to speak anymore.

"You are a peaceful race. Surely you will not kill us if we promise to leave."

"How do you plan to leave when we have had our allies disable your pirated fleet of ships?" was Thor's stern reply.

"If you give us time to repair our ships we can-" But even as Kefflin tried to splutter a reply Thor raised a finger to silence him.

"Your ships will be towed to the nearest uninhabited planet with a stargate, upon arrival you will be beamed to the surface and your ships will be confiscated," he said, his face a mask of stone. "You will tell every Lucian Alliance member that you encounter that the worlds under our protection are off limits to you all and any trespass will be met will extreme retribution. Also you should consider yourselves lucky that the Tau'ri have asked us to spare your lives, the same courtesy will not be afforded if there is any repeat of these actions."

With those final words tractor beams shot out, grabbing each of the disabled ships which were dragged behind the _Valhalla_ as the ship re-entered hyperspace.

On the bridge of the _Enterprise_ O'Neill smiled, directing a knowing look at his old team. "Well I'd say Thor's definitely back."


	11. Allies

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: Sergeant Major Richards is the property of DaniWilder, so thanks for letting me borrow him. Echidna however is mine, and so are any of the ships that I proudly create.**

**I intend to look at all reviews and try to clear up any questions you may have, so if you have any stick them in your reviews and i will try to answer them without giving the game away at the start of each new chapter.**

**********A thank you to Scotius for letting me bounce ideas off you, the design is probably much better now than when i started it.**

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**Review Responses**

**DaniWilder: Some of the really interesting parts are still to come.**

**Shadow of Realm: I'll bet you're glad i introduced a ship that can hold their entire civilisation then.**

**Ruby Pena: I am glad you approve, enjoy the next chapter.**

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**Langara – Kelowna Republic Capital City**

It was early evening in the Kelownan capital city, with the low sun balanced on the edge of the horizon seemingly threatening to fall off the invisible line. In a top secret location the planets stargate dialled, and once the correct codes were received and verified an iris similar to that on Earths stargate retracted revealing the shimmering puddle of the event horizon. At the same time the iris retracted panels on the floor opened and a long thick metal bar rose from the floor. One end was situated millimetres away from the event horizon while the other end had travelled away from the stargate to the mouth of one of the many tunnels leading out of the gate room where it connected seamlessly to another bar. From the stargate shot out a monorail car followed by a half dozen cargo cars, which proceeded to hurtle along the rail and quickly disappeared into the tunnel. The monorail continued on along the tunnel for a short distance until it came to a halt when it reached an underground station where ten armed soldiers were waiting on both platforms to meet the train and inspect the contents. As the soldiers approached the train the doors on either side of the last two cars slid open a crack and two small silver balls shot out of the cars onto both platforms before the doors slammed shut again. A wave of blinding white erupted from each of the balls and every guard on the platforms collapsed, unconscious before they hit the ground. In the control room overlooking the station technicians were still reeling from the effects of the weakened stun waves, and trying to desperately fight off unconsciousness while the train had begun to move again after disconnecting the last two cars in the line. As the train disappeared into the tunnel the doors on the cars slid open and twenty leather clad men and women carrying rifles poured from each of the carriages onto the platforms and towards the doors leading deeper into the complex.

On the far outskirts of the city were several installations dedicated for material processing and manufacturing purposes. It was in one of these locations that a monorail tunnel, capped by heavy trinium doors, emerged at ground level. To the surprise of the nearby base personnel the doors to the tunnel slid open just as a familiar cargo train shot out of the tunnel mouth. The thoughts of the non-military personnel were that they hadn't received the usual announcement of the train's imminent arrival. The thoughts of the military personnel were that the train hadn't been expected and for some reason it was missing two cargo containers. But these thoughts immediately fled their minds as the doors of the cargo cars opened and twenty armed men and women charged out of each car towards the main buildings. The rifles they were carrying immediately came into play as they fired at anyone who tried to shout out or even move towards or away from the invading forces. Red energy bolts spat from the weapons of both the invaders and the staunch defenders as the two forces engaged each other. Civilians unable to react fast enough were mowed down as they attempted to turn and run, while the mass forces of, what appeared to be, Lucian Alliance troops took losses as they felt the pressure of too many people and not enough cover to make use of. The defending troops were scattered around the tunnel entrance which meant that while the Lucian Alliance troops charged forwards they were protected by the train from half of the defending forces and they were seemed determined to press that advantage.

The defending forces were quickly being brought down by the unrelenting fire of the attackers. Out of the fifteen soldiers that had stood to face the eighty strong enemy forces only six were still standing after the first volley, and those surviving members were quickly succumbing to enemy fire despite finding cover behind whatever unloading equipment happened to be around. Unfortunately that was the very reason that they were taking such heavy losses, most of the first casualties had occurred when the defenders had dived for covered and found none. As it stood the Lucian forces were quickly advancing through the scattered and disused equipment picking off the few survivors where they stood and having taken few losses in return. Only four of their men were down and that was only the result of the first team charging into the attackers having fallen to a chance ambush. That was the only lucky break that the defenders got before a lone squad snuck around a pile of crates and brought down the last Kelownan soldier in a hail of red bolts.

By this point the rest of the defending forces in the immediate area had made it to the train and were climbing through the carriages and bringing their own weapons to bear. A salvo of red erupted from the carriages as they opened fire on the retreating Lucian figures, catching a team of four with their backs turned, while simultaneously the inside of the control car briefly lit up as the Kelownans engaged the operating crew.

The situation in the stargate facility was pretty bleak. The Lucian forces were advancing deeper and deeper into the facility and they had taken the defence teams completely by surprise. The Lucians had quickly taken down any resistance between the station and the station control room. This allowed them to remotely open the tunnel exit and allow the main force to invade the construction facility.

With this objective accomplished the other force were working on completing their own objective, taking the stargate control room. Working in teams of four the Lucians spread deeper into the complex preparing to assault the control room from multiple directions. Advancing in pairs, while the other two covered their advance, the teams moved further along the corridors, quickly neutralising any threats they encountered. The teams soon met up at the ends of the corridor leading to the control with a team staying at the end of each corridor to guard against any reinforcements that may turn up. By now the alarm had been raised and the defence teams were beginning to respond to the threat, but it was already too late.

The three teams charged down the corridor to the armoured door to the control room. Placing a C4 charge on the door the teams quickly retreated before the charge detonated, the shaped charge sending a sizeable amount of shrapnel into the control room and a fair amount of smoke into the corridor. The teams quickly advanced on the ruined door, one person throwing another stun grenade into the hole in the door before the rest of the team moved to pull the door open while the other two teams covered them. When the twisted remains of the door were pried open the teams advanced into the control room firing at anything that was still moving. The teams quickly moved to the DHD by the viewing window with control consoles on either side. Dialling up an address into the DHD they briefly established a wormhole long enough to send a signal through.

Once this was done the group leader pulled out a radio, "Attention all forces. Control room has been seized, conformation signal has been sent."

This message was sent out on a wide band frequency which meant that everyone in the facility received it. The invaders wanted the defending forces to know that they had complete control of the facility now and that reinforcements would most likely soon be on the way through the stargate.

The wall of firepower from the still standing defending Kelownans taking cover in the train quickly ceased when they received the signal that the stargate facility had been taken over. Standing up from their crouched position they powered down their weapons to the minimal setting before walking over to the troops they had shot.

A groaning soldier rolled over, having been shot in the back from the Kelownan counter attack. The leathers he was wearing having made the rough landing a little easier but not by much. Looking up he grimaced at the smug looking Kelownan standing over him but grasped the helping hand firmly as he was pulled back to his feet.

He groaned again, "Damn it that smarts."

The Kelownan chuckled, "Be glad the thing wasn't set to maximum. Believe me getting shot by an intar set to maximum hurts like hell afterwards, and that's after you wake up."

"Well since you haven't taken a second shot I'm guessing its game over?"

"Yep we lose. Shame really I still think we could have taken the rest of your buddies down," was the cocky reply he received.

The marine, who had been pretending to be a Lucian and was still feeling the intar shot, snorted. "I doubt it. They may have been taken down eventually but not by your group. Fifteen SG teams versus fifteen Kelownan soldiers, sounds a like Little Big Horn to me."

The Kelownans only response was a raised eyebrow at the alien reference so the marine quickly translated. "You were outnumbered and you were going to get your asses kicked."

The Kelownan sighed in defeat. "I guess your right, and more are probably on the way now that the facility is captured. Oh and I think you'll find its less than fifteen since you and your buddies were taken out of the picture."

The marine's only response was to lean heavily on the Kelownan as he hobbled back to the barracks. For a weapon designed to be non-lethal those intar's really packed a punch.

* * *

In a room filled with video monitors back in the stargate facility two men stood watching the two forces helping each other to their feet and heading back to the barracks to recover.

Jonas Quinn sighed. "Ok Colonel I see your point, we really need to overhaul security."

Colonel Reynolds turned away from a monitor showing the platform covered in unconscious Kelownan soldiers. "I think adding a few new security measures should certainly improve your chances of repelling a security threat. We should also upgrade the defences around the gate room, not to mention replacing the control room doors with trinium ones."

"You mean like the ones they were still trying to get for the SGC before I left?" asked the Langaran Council member.

Reynolds chuckled, "Well back then all the trinium was going towards making the _Prometheus_ so it's a lot more feasible now. Don't tell anyone I told you but I think those are actually being installed now."

"So what are we looking at so far; stronger doors, blast doors maybe, additional security teams and defence turrets around the station and the tunnel exits…"

"I'd personally recommend defence stations being built around the tunnel exits so that any threats can be contained. We also need to put some doors on the tunnel entrances in the station and around the gate room, reinforcing the station with barricades would certainly help."

"Well I appreciate your help and the 120 marines you brought with you to prove your point to the guards," said Jonas.

"Don't mention it. It's amazing how many volunteers from SG teams we actually got. Of course I'm sure they were just eager to lend a hand to an ally and not to just show off." He added.

Jonas grinned at the Colonel, "I'm sure that's what it is."

"At least your construction is still going ahead smoothly despite this little test."

"Yeah, the first hull should be ready in the next week for you to take up to your station for fitting. I still can't believe how far you guys have come since I came home."

"Well it's nice to know we should have the first ready. It'll stop the politicians back home from complaining about all the supplies we are sending you on a regular basis once we can tell them that we are getting what we paid for. You'd think people who deal in favours would have a little more faith."

"Well let them know that my people and I really appreciate what they have done for us. It wasn't easy when the Ori were occupying the planet but at least they didn't have a chance for a full invasion."

"To be honest it was a good thing you surrendered right away. It was certainly better than having your cities destroyed from orbit, and to be honest with the limited forces they had in the galaxy at the time that's what they would have done. They couldn't afford to sit around and fight a siege."

"Still a lot of people did die anyway when they tried to publicly object to the new religion being forced on them," said Jonas with the sadness evident in his eyes.

Reynolds sighed, "One thing I've had to learn as a soldier is that you can't always save everyone and you just have to be thankful for those that you can. It sucks but that's the way it is."

Jonas' only response to nod, he knew that Reynolds was right but it wasn't exactly comforting.

* * *

A week later and the first hull for the new _Night Fury_-class destroyer was finally completed. Powering up its antigravity drive, the only major piece of technology on board besides the naquadah generator, the ship rose through out of the atmosphere and into space. The next ship in the line wouldn't be completed for some time as the Langarans would be refocusing their time on internal construction, rebuilding their own civilisation as well constructing new shipyards where future destroyers could be built. In the mean time the _Night Fury_ would receive its internal fittings and be put through its paces to test for any design flaws.

The Ori invasion of Langara had left the planet in need of major repairs to their infrastructure. The only solution the Ori had to the lack of initial invasion forces was to destroy the major mining and farming operations of the three main nations. Strafing runs from Ori fighters had ravaged farm lands and buried mine entrances, forcing the planets surrender. After that the nations of Langara had been forced to band together to fight off their own extinction from lack of resources, and with the Ori pulling out of the galaxy they were finally able to receive help from Earth without fear of destruction.

It was obvious however that a more stable form of income would be necessary if the planet was going to fully recover and begin to expand again. Unfortunately the ever shortening hand outs, courtesy of a lack of free resources all round, was not going to help solve this problem. The solution was actually rather simple and took the form of a simple business arrangement. Earth would provide food and medicines which were desperately needed on a much larger scale than what could be given freely and in return Langara would produce destroyer hulls for Earth. This arrangement was actually beneficial in both the short and long term for Earth and Langara. The Langarans were able to establish off world mining sites with assistance from Earth to provide the raw resources necessary for production of the hulls. The man power was only available because of the sizeable resources provided by Earth more than made up for the loss of man power, and the more hulls that were built the more the Langarans would receive. In the future however as Langara fully recovered from the devastation to their infrastructure the resources being provided would not become necessary so the list of things that the Langarans would want would increase and become more varied. Of course such a valuable future investment would require protection, especially if the planet was to potentially be the sole supplier of destroyer hulls for the immediate future. As such a single _Valley Forge_ class station, basically a Midway II-class without the second stargate, was placed in geo synchronous orbit over the shipyard. When more shipyards were completed and production levels went up more stations would be placed in orbit increasing both the production numbers and the protection levels for the entire planet. Once the completed hulls reached the station they would then be fitted with all the bells and whistles, so to speak, making them fully functioning ships ready to serve in the ever expanding Tau'ri fleet.

The destroyer class was first considered to combat the Wraith threat that was still present in Pegasus at the time. Now that the threat had become an ally asking for help a new job had been allocated to them, namely acting as patrol ships and defence forces for guarding members of the Protected Planets Treaty. They would also make wonderful escorts for the more powerful ships of the Tau'ri fleet. The initial design of the destroyer was a shrunken version of the _Daedalus_, to that the end the ship was only 150m long, 50m wide and reach a maximum of 40m high. However since the ship was primarily designed for combat purposes the ship lacked the twin hanger bay pod space, instead the front of the pods were lined with two diagonal shunts, with two ICT's along each. The front of the destroyer was still shaped the same, with three double barrelled railgun turrets on each of the wings, two on the top and one on the underside, while the two APB emitters were still on the front of the ship. However because of the reduced size there were only four missile tubes along the shrunken neck section. On the back of the ship on the top, in a trapezium shaped formation, were four DBRT's, with another two on the underside of the ship guarding the hanger bay located there. As was now standard on all Tau'ri vessels the ship was equipped with a cloaking device, rings and Asgard beams, and to provide power for all of this was a single Neutrino Ion Generator.

Since the entire ship had to be internally fitted by Tau'ri work crews, because of the advanced nature of the technology compared to the Langaran standard, it would arguably have been easier for them to contract out the work to some of the galaxies more advanced worlds like the Serrakins. Unfortunately the Serrakins had been hit relatively hard by the Ori invasion of the Milky Way, their ships having been unable to stand against the sheer power of an Ori mothership. Since they were now in the process of rebuilding their own ships and shipyards they really couldn't afford to use the resources building ships for others. The only advantage was that the Aschen had been hit even harder than they had. The Aschen and the Serrakins had been in a cold war state for a long time now, with the Serrakin advanced hyperdrive systems giving them a distinct advantage over the comparatively slow ships of the Aschen. But given Aschen bio-weaponry the two sides ended up being a fairly even match for each other. However the Ori had recognised the Aschen and their biological weapons as a serious threat to their armies and done their best to wipe out both the weapons and the technology to create them, which had largely been successful. This had left the Aschen in a much more weakened state for the time being, and the Serrakin took advantage of this by closing the web around Aschen space preventing them from advancing outwards further and harm more civilisations in the process. The Serrakins were a proud people however, and had been resisting the Aschen for so long that when they saw their chance at finally stopping the Aschens advance they were seizing it for themselves, and so they were refusing help from Earth.

* * *

_**Kolumna**_** - Gate Room **

The sun had set on the Alteran City Ship many hours ago and midnight had long since passed. The two people manning the control room were half asleep and the four guards present were lax in their vigilance of duty. After all anyone who normally visited the planet knew that it would be the middle of the night so who would bother to come? And anyone who would visit was probably some wondering traveller looking for new places to explore and people to trade with, right? And it was this naivety that would soon cost them.

With a low hum the stargate powered up, chevron after blue chevron lighting up until the seventh chevron locked and a wormhole materialised. The guards were jolted into awareness but they were not overly cautious, standing in front of the gate once the kawoosh had passed without even drawing their weapons. They expected an ordinary civilian type character to step through the gate at any moment and they would be standing there to greet them, but what they got was a lot more than they bargained for.

Emerging from the event horizon came four Genii soldiers, armed with holstered pistols. The guards thought nothing of it, after all the Genii were supposed to be part of the same alliance as they were and even the Tau'ri carried weapons with them.

The guard in charge of the shift, a young man by the name of Kadier stepped forward to greet the visitors. The apparent leader of the Genii group, a middle aged man with short dark hair, stepped forward to meet him.

"Greetings people of the Genii, my name is Kadier, what brings you here…?" Kadier's mouth remained open as if he had more to say and for a moment everyone froze, waiting for the words to come.

In a split second the Genii soldiers drew, aimed and fired at the other guards in a bold display of their professional skill. At the same time the group leader stepped back pulling the knife in his left hand from the guard's chest and, drawing his own pistol, shot the two gaping civilians standing on the control room balcony.

As the soldiers spread out through the room the leader sheathed his knife and raised his wrist, the movement of fabric revealing a communicator.

"This is Commander Nadier," he said. "All troops are cleared to come through and are to establish a foothold immediately. Send our message to our kin that the dream of Commander Kolya has been fulfilled, this city of the Ancestors is ours."


	12. Friends or enemies?

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I realised when i was writing this particular chapter that i had broken both 50,000 words and 100 pages on Microsoft Word. Who would have thought i would be doing that as a twenty year old maths student :)**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

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**Review Responses**

**mwbib: There is plenty more still to come, like this chapter.**

**Shadow of Realm: Well they are only destroyers, small and easy to build ships that make good escorts, scouts allowing you to maintain a presence in more places than you could with just big ships. Perfect considering they were designed to fight against the Wraith when they were a major problem.**

**Ruby Pena: I am glad you approve, enjoy the next chapter.**

**stark40763: So many reviews, thank you. There are small problems and then there are big ones, the question is how big?**

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_**Kolumna**_** – Control Room**

A lone Genii soldier stepped into the control room surveying the scene around him. The hub of the ancestral city was bustling with activity even during this late hour into the capture of the city. Genii technicians were manning control stations while soldiers carried heavy crates of supplies away from the active stargate and to wherever their contents were needed throughout the city. Nodding to the passing soldiers he walked into the office that the previous leader of the city had been forced to vacate and stopped before the desk.

"Commander I have the status report that you requested," he said placing a wad of papers amongst the others strewn across the desk.

Commander Gerard Nadier gave the written report a withering look before looking at the blonde haired Lieutenant Commander before him. He was a soldier, a man of action, and on the list of things he hated most paperwork held its own very well.

"Just give me the short version," he said. "You know what my views are on unnecessary paperwork Duvar."

"Yes sir," he replied. "The city inhabitants have been captured and our forces have finished securing a perimeter. The sensor shielding generator has been installed in the main tower and is covering the whole city. Defensive weapons are being put in place as we speak and as supplies arrive. I am told the last of the defences will be in place by dawn."

"Any resistance?"

"None, the majority of guards and personnel were off duty when we attacked as you predicted. After we captured the gate room any soldiers we encountered were silently brought down by our strike teams and captured alive for questioning as you requested."

He nodded. "What have you done with the prisoners?"

"They have been secured in two of the larger rooms in the central tower, on different levels of course. I thought it best to have them close at hand should any more Lantean forces attempt to retake the city."

Gerard raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Good thinking old friend. Although I am surprised you were able to fit them all in just the two rooms, are you sure you took them all alive?"

"There weren't that many sir, no more than a hundred and all confined to quarters in the central tower. There were only a few guards patrolling the corridors in any case. Their security was pathetic."

"Hmm, the city was rather undefended wasn't it? Any theories as to why this might be?"

The question sounded innocent but Duvar knew it was anything but, his superior, and friend, was testing him like he had done so many times over the years. It was by passing these tests that he had earned his position as the right hand to the man who had once been Kolya's right hand man. Now Kolya was gone and they were finishing what he started, capturing the city of the ancestors, disposing of an inept government and eventually restoring the Genii to their rightful place as rulers of the Pegasus galaxy.

"Well sir I think our initial theories were correct and that the Lanteans were fielding a limited presence in the city after a possible Wraith attack forced them to relocate to another world. Judging from the state of the city they crash landed on this planet and have been excavating the city ever since. I suspect the report Ladon eventually submitted about the Tau'ri use of starships is accurate and that they have relocated most of their people to ships when the city became to badly damaged to support them all. Most of the city past the central tower has suffered massive structural damage and has been undergoing repairs by the Lanteans."

"Good, you have analysed the situation well. However you have failed to take into account a few facts. Firstly the city has evidently been stripped of most of the technology that Commander Kolya previously encountered when he first attempted to capture the city. Second of all the guards were armed with batons and not proper weapons, which leads to point three. This planet has been listed as part of the alliance of planets that the Genii are also members of and, as you may recall, it was when rumours of the damaged Ancient city that had been seen here reached us that we began to plan this assault."

"So what do you make of the situation sir?" Duvar asked casually.

"I believe that the inhabitants of the city that you captured with such ease are in fact the native populace of this planet. Also the Lanteans tasked them with repairing the structural damage to the city after it crash landed here in exchange for helping them join the alliance. But make no mistake, while they may have appeared to have abandoned the city they will no doubt return soon enough to check up on the native's progress. Which is why we must prepare for the inevitable assault that is to come and precisely why we have taken hostages, if we have hostages and they are killed due to the Lanteans rashness then their reputation will be destroyed."

Duvar smiled at his superior's cunning, he had as much respect for his commander as Nadier had for Kolya. But in Duvar's eyes Nadier was the superior tactician. By staying behind when Kolya had fled and pretending to support Ladon, he had earned a promotion and a position of power in the new order. That power had gained Nadier access to the latest information coming through to the Genii, such as the disappearance of Atlantis and the sudden emergence of a damaged city on another world. Finally, after swearing false allegiance to Ladon and his followers, their patient waiting had finally paid off and they had found the opportunity they were waiting for, a chance to seize power for the Genii that should never have been denied from them in the first place.

"The evacuation would also explain why the fabled shield around the stargate appears to be non existent sir. If the Lanteans did indeed abandon the city to the locals then they would have removed the shield so that it couldn't be used against them if the locals decided to keep the city for themselves. It's just a shame that they took all of the useful technology, those invisible space ships of theirs would have been useful. Even, if we couldn't operate them yet I'm sure that our scientists could learn something from the technology."

"True but we only need to offer up the hostages in exchange for the ships and whatever else we ask of them. They most likely don't have any of those power sources for this city but a few more of those generators would be useful so that we can restore partial power to the rest of the city." He picked up a report from amongst the pile and sighed. "It seems our own attempts at adapting our generators are proving futile, our generators just don't have the juice it seems."

"If our scientists had the devices to study I am sure that they can eventually replicate the technology sir."

"Indeed they could. But for now we need that generator where it is and intact, so keep the scientists away from it. How goes the recruiting?" he asked with a smirk.

"Our operatives still have control of the transmitter and the message is still being broadcast despite Ladon's efforts. Our operatives are giving instructions to our forces as they declare allegiance to you sir. However the majority of Ladon's supporters are in the city and are refusing to acknowledge you."

"It was to be expected, but as the word spreads that we have taken control of this city others will flock to our cause. The deal we will make with the Lanteans will further cement our future. This city was abandoned by them and we have staked our claim to it, so long as we stipulate in the deal that they leave us be they will have no choice but to comply. They cannot risk the political fallout that will follow from attacking the Genii, who are a member of the Alliance, and once this is finished we will be the Genii."

"But sir, haven't we already broken that trust by attacking this world and killing its people?" he asked with a hint of doubt creeping into his voice.

"No, we can claim that we have in fact liberated this world from the peoples who oppressed the locals. You have seen the surveillance images of the outlying villages, they are poor conditions compared to this city, which those loyal to the Lanteans live in. We can offer the people better standards of living and in exchange we get this city. We have claimed a piece of abandoned technology and a couple of locals resisted even though they have no claim to it themselves, who will argue besides the Lanteans. Besides the people here know nothing of the potential for this city, potential that we can realise once we have the full support of our people behind us."

"I understand sir."

* * *

**New Lantea - Atlantis **

John Sheppard settled into his office chair with a sigh. It had been three weeks since, what people were calling, the Matriarch incident occurred and he hadn't heard the end of it since. It all sounded so good at the time, he thought as he pondered the past few weeks. They offer the cure to the Wraith feeding problems, some of them accept it once they see it works fine on Todd and then gradually more and more of them see the advantages of not having a major military power out to get you and accept as well. In the mean time the Wraith would slowly have been building an infrastructure for themselves on their own worlds after some tutoring in the ways of farming. That had been the plan. It was a good plan. It was a plan that even factored in Wraith stubbornness. It didn't however factor in the mother of the Pegasus brand of monsters making her appearance back on scene. Not to mention a chapter of the historical encyclopaedia needing to be rewritten, still at least it wasn't the first time that had happened. The end result being they now had the entire Wraith species queuing up to receive the miracle treatment that would turn them from the scourge of the galaxy to a potential ally. Admittedly it meant that the Wraith weren't a threat anymore, but they had to face the fact that they couldn't process so many Wraith all in one go. To cope with this a few ground rules had to be established, the first of which being that any Wraith that could go into stasis would go into stasis until they received the treatment. The second was that queens and the upper echelon of the Wraith society were getting the treatment first for security reasons, and because they consisted of a smaller part of the Wraith populace after the drones. In any case the drones can all be controlled by the combined mental might of the _Arima_ and Echidna so they were certainly not going to be the ones to betray them. Another rule, in the code of conduct for all Wraith, was to form an orderly line and patiently await your turn to be processed. Luckily they were used to the procedure by now and by switching personnel every few hours a regular routine was established. Wraith is beamed in, is altered, receives gene therapy, is beamed out, new Wraith is beamed in and so on, and so a Wraith was processed every two minutes. Or as some scientists were saying, vampire goes in Wraith comes out, they had after all been told to be respectful to their new allies given their newly revealed history. This wasn't a large number but they were working on that problem, a little tinkering with the ascension machine and Rodney assured them they were on to a winner. But in the mean time they were sticking with Plan A, which involved altering half a million Wraith one at a time.

Of course they would need to be watched over so the _Arima_ would be following the _Weir_ whether she went and by extension the growing armada of ships that accompanied her. After the Wraith had submitted to their Matriarch they had begun flocking to her side. Having realised that a number of hive ships and their accompanying cruisers were scattered all around them they decided to split up for a while. The _Arima _arranged to meet the ships and once instructions were given the _Weir_ revealed her presence, to the shock of the unsuspecting Wraith ships, and together they set off for home.

When the Weir arrived in orbit over _Atlantis_ she was greeted by both the _Daedalus_ and the, recently arrived and refitted, _Apollo_. Luckily they had had the foresight to increase speed so that the _Weir_ arrived first and they could warn them of the incoming guests that were approaching the planet. It was quite an impressive, scary and certainly more than a little intimidating sight, when the massive hyperspace window tore itself open and disgorged the _Arima_ along with sixteen hive ships, along with their cruiser escorts. The ships, except for the _Arima_ which was stationed over _Atlantis_ in an act of trust, had quickly been shunted into orbit around one of New Lantea's moons with the _Daedalus_ and the _Apollo_, along with a flight of cloaked puddle jumpers, keeping watch over them until they were called forward for their crews to undergo treatment. Three weeks on and Wraith ships were still reaching the system. Sometimes it would be the occasional cruiser, other times it would be a small fleet of cruisers or a lone hive and once a fleet of three hives and fifteen cruisers had arrived in one go. Back in the present and the Wraith fleet would almost be entirely located in the New Lantean system and once the last few cruisers arrived the fleet would be composed of the _Arima _and her sentinel guardians, 31 hive ships, 293 cruisers and no one quite knew just how many darts.

Unfortunately, even with a potential solution to their Wraith mass conversion problems on the horizon, they were still looking at turning whatever system the _Weir_ happened to be in into a parking zone for the combined Wraith fleet. This unfortunately meant they were beginning to attract some people's attention. The results of which were causing John to have mixed feelings in the past few days. A week after they had made it back to _Atlantis_ the cities powerful sensors had detected a ship heading towards them at high speed. Less than a week later and said ship had arrived and had gone stealth, or rather it had tried to go stealth but the powerful sensors of the city and the Asgard counterparts on the _Weir_ had been able to keep track of the ship as it slowly made its way deeper into the system. Operating at minimal power the ship was practically in orbit before it was close enough to do a full scan of the planet and the ships in orbit without raising its energy levels. At such a close range though the ship was easy to identify if you knew where to look and it turned out to be a Traveller generational ship. They had decided to let the Travellers reveal themselves before they made a move to talk to them, that is until the ship broke away and started to head out of the system without so much as a hello. The response by the _Weir_ to this act of blatant rudeness was to make a short hyperspace jump to end up right over the Traveller ship and snag it in a tractor beam and, before the crew even realised what was happening, proceed to tow them back in system. And to intimidate the nosy Travellers even more Sheppard decided to visit the ship himself using the _Weir_'s hologram projection systems. They certainly got quite a shock when he suddenly shimmered into existence onto the bridge.

* * *

When he appeared on the bridge he said nothing, allowing the shocked Travellers to take in what had just happened and taking in the scene before him. It was certainly interesting communicating by hologram as it was almost like he was on the bridge of the alien ship and yet he knew he was still on the bridge of the _Weir_. Surveying the bridge crew he noticed that the pilot was the very familiar Katana Labrea.

"Well, well, well," said Sheppard, with a familiar cocky grin on his face. "If it isn't my old friend Katana, so what brings you to the neighbourhood?"

Katana's face was livid. "Sheppard just let us go and get off my ship." At her raised voice the other Travellers on the bridge snapped back to reality, drew their weapons and pointed them at Sheppard.

"I'm afraid neither of those things is possible right now," he replied calmly. "First of all because I want to know what you were planning and why you were spying on us and as for the second…" He stepped forward and his head passed through a cable hanging from the ceiling. "I'm not actually on your ship."

Katana motioned for the others to lower their weapons.

"We were just passing through so will you please just let us go?" She was still scowling but she was angry at herself for getting caught and putting her crew in danger.

"Not just yet little lady," replied Sheppard. "First of all you and I are going to have a little talk. I want to know what you're doing spying on us."

Katana sighed. "We received your message that you wanted to have a word with us. But since it was coming from a planet that was empty when we last looked over a month ago we decided to play it careful and check things out first."

"Larrin put you up to this?" Katana's momentary look of annoyance was all the answer he needed. "Yeah, this sounds like one of Larrin's ideas."

"Never mind that," said Katana. "More importantly what is a Wraith armada with the biggest hive ship and cruisers I have ever seen doing here? And another thing, what's with that ship of yours? It looks like a cross between an Ancient warship and one of your battle cruisers."

"Ah well the _Weir_ may resemble an Aurora but she's been built entirely by us. As for the Wraith fleet in orbit it's a long story and not one I would like to tell twice, and since I know Larrin is going to want to hear this I suggest you give her a call. The point is that the Wraith are not going to be feeding on anyone anymore if we have anything to say about it. I'll send you a copy of the conversation we had with their Matriarch to have a look at, and then we'll answer any questions you have."

Katana nodded. "All right fine, but I want you to let my ship go first."

"Done, just keep you systems powered down. No weapons, shields and especially no hyperdrive. I really don't want to have to come after you."

"Really think you can catch us?" she joked.

"Hell yes."

* * *

An hour later and Larrin had stepped through the stargate to talk after finding out that her scout had been found, captured and been half way convinced that humans were no longer part of the Wraith diet. There were some things that you just had to see for yourself if you're going to believe them and for her this definitely qualified. At the moment SGA-1, Woolsey, Todd, Echidna, Katana and Larrin were sitting around the conference table in _Atlantis_ trying to sort out this mess with Woolsey taking point.

"Okay ladies you've seen the recordings and you've seen the physical evidence." At this point both Wraith revealed their unmarked palms. "Now any questions?"

"So you really expect us to just accept that the Wraith have suddenly just turned good?" Larrin nearly shouted.

Echidna sighed. "I am truly sorry for what my children have done, and I am even sorrier that I was not able to stop them. However you must understand that they did so because it was necessary for them."

Todd placed his hand on his mothers shoulder to comfort her and then continued for her. "My kind used to gain life energy from animals, but humans offered something different. The life force of humans is so much like our own that to us it was the tastiest thing in universe. We became addicted to it and once we started to feed we found we could not stop. Animals would no longer satisfy our hunger when we knew that there was such a more satisfying option available to us. Now though we have a choice, a chance to start anew and we intend to seize it."

"But it wasn't just that need to feed that led your kind to try to dominate the galaxy," replied Larrin. "It was your nature, you beat the Ancients and you decided you liked being the ones at the top of the food chain. What's to stop you from trying it again?"

"Because now we have a way to solve the problem," said McKay. "If the Wraith can't feed on humans anymore then the temptation to feed becomes irrelevant."

Larrin wasn't convinced. "Like I said what's to stop you from trying to stay there?"

"Because I will not let them." Echidna simply stated. "Because I will force them to accept the change or I will kill them."

Everyone was silent at this bold statement of uncaring, unforgiving truth. They were shocked that she would be willing to kill her own children, but it was the truth. And the real truth was that she blamed herself for turning them into monsters. She had brought them into a universe that would hate them for what they could and had become. But if the price of saving them from that hatred was to do the one thing that would cause her so much pain then she would gladly pay that price.

"As we speak my children are being given the cure," she continued. "Slowly but surely my race will be reborn to the way we should have been to begin with. It will take time, nearly two years from what I am told, but the Tau'ri scientists are even now working on a way to greatly speed up the process and I have faith in them. My people will soon have a purpose, to become the friends and protectors of the people of this galaxy. But to do this we will require help, we will require all of your help to take our place in this universe or I fear our race will once again fight for the same reasons as they did before…for what we need to survive."

"You need our help to establish colonies don't you?" asked Katana.

Echidna nodded. "I have been away for a very long time but from what my son tells me we are in great need of your assistance in this matter." She then motioned for Todd to speak.

"While our kind has established many outposts throughout this galaxy we have never built colonies as you would call them. We have no means or knowledge to grow the food we will need to feed our people after they receive the treatment but we do have the work force necessary to construct colonies. We understand that you have been trying to establish colonies for some time now but you do not have the work force to do so quickly enough, as I understand that even with overcrowding on your ships you are constantly working to maintain them. We can offer you the work force that you need and you can give us the knowledge that we require."

Larrin gave a cunning grin, she could already see the possibilities that an alliance would bring. "Two peoples of the stars coming together to help the other, it's an interesting idea."

"Will you help us?" asked Echidna.

Larrin shrugged. "Unfortunately it's not my decision alone, I'll put it to the council but there will have to be concessions."

"Such as?" asked Todd.

"We'll need planets of our own and we'll need your help to find them. Alternatively you could always give us some of your worlds."

"We will see what we can do," said Echidna.

"While you're at it how about telling the council we would like a word as well," added Sheppard.

"What did you have in mind?" asked Larrin.

"An alliance," said Woolsey.

"Between the Tau'ri and the Travellers?"

"Between the Tau'ri, the Travellers and the Wraith," corrected Woolsey.

"Interesting idea," said Larrin.

"Indeed," added Todd.

Sheppard shrugged. "Makes sense since we will be getting involved with each other so much, an alliance would just make things easier. We all have at least one thing the others want, a way to get along."

"So what else do you want from us?" asked Larrin with a playful grin.

"Well I'm sure Ronon could give you a whole list of people who would like to have a particle magnum to call their own, so that kind of technology would be appreciated. Of course we don't necessarily need your technology but it would be a good trade off for what you want."

"If it's a technology exchange then we would be interested in some of your weapons technology."

"That we can't really do, for two reasons," said McKay. "Firstly our technology is pretty advanced and is worth way more when compared to your particle magnums. And second of all the technology you're thinking off was a gift from one of our allies and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be happy with us just giving it away."

"McKay's right," added Sheppard. "Besides technology isn't what you need right now, what you need is to get your ships fixed up. From what I've seen and what you've told me your ships are in major need of a tune up."

"I suppose that's true," Larrin grudgingly admitted.

"Wonderful, then it looks like we have a basis for an alliance," said Woolsey.

For the next hour they haggled over the details for the proposal when the talks were interrupted by the stargate activation. Through the open wormhole a message was being broadcasted to them from the Genii. It was Ladon, and he didn't sound like he had good news.


	13. Actions have consequences

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I could give you the whole real life excuse for the lateness of this chapter and it would be true. However you should all know that i have gone back and edited every single previous chapter in an effort to improve the story as a whole. There are no major changes, so don't worry you don't have to go back and re-read the whole thing.**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**mwbib: I assure i have much more planned.**

**Shadow of Realm: Unfortunately an idiot with an army can be very dangerous, as is about to shown.**

**Jedi Carpet: Thank you for inspiring the revisions, from now on i intend to go back and look at the previous chapters before posting the next.**

**Daniwilder: You've come up with some interesting ideas yourself and i doubt i have put in anywhere near the same amount of work you do when it comes to writing. But your praise does mean a lot to me.**

* * *

_**Atlantis**_** – Control Room**

"Okay Ladon," said Sheppard over the open com link. "You've managed to contact us after all this time, now what do you want?"

Ladon's stoic expression flickered for a moment and revealed the face of a man exhausted and at the end of his rope, so naturally John's words did not go down well. But instead of losing it he gritted his teeth, swallowed the bile in his mouth and spoke in a calm but slightly shaky voice.

"We have a problem."

John raised an eyebrow as McKay and Woolsey walked over to stand by the com screen.

"What sort of problem?"

Ladon sighed. "A Commander I thought I could trust has incited a rebellion against me."

"So how is that our problem?" bluntly asked McKay.

Ladon scowled. "Because it seems that the Commander in question used to be one of Kolya's subordinates."

"You're saying that he might follow in his footsteps in his attitude toward _Atlantis_," said Woolsey.

Ladon sighed. "I'm afraid it's much worse than that, you see Commander Nadier has claimed that he has done what neither the previous or current ruler could do. Seize control of a city of the Ancients."

"Oh come on you can't be…" started McKay before trailing off, eyes widening with shock. "Oh crap."

Ladon nodded. "If it is not your city that he has taken hold of then there is only one other that I know of."

"Are you sure that he is not bluffing?" asked Woolsey. "It could be a ploy to bring more of your people over to his side."

Ladon shook his head. "I'm afraid not. He has been transmitting a speech on a loop for nearly a day now to all Genii outposts, with views of an Ancient city as background imagery."

"Transmitting how exactly?" asked McKay.

Ladon hesitated. "We have our ways."

"Ladon do you want us to help you bring down this rogue Commander?" asked Sheppard.

Ladon nodded hesitantly.

"Then stop holding back on us and give us the full story!" John practically yelled.

Ladon flinched at the aggressive outburst, despite having expected it. "We use short ranged subspace relay stations for inbound transmissions. The technology is a relic from the time when the Genii were a galactic empire, before the Wraith saw us as a threat to be neutralised. It is one of the last few pieces of advanced technology we have left."

"If these relay stations are short ranged then how is he transmitting to all your outposts?" asked McKay, ever the suspicious scientist.

"The relay stations are only short ranged in their transmitting power, but they are all receiving transmissions from the main transmitter on our homeworld."

"So surely the problem becomes that much easier to solve, just take control of the transmitter," said John.

"We can't. The transmitter is one of our most advanced and most valuable possessions and the building that contains it is heavily defended, any attempt to retake the transmitter will be too costly. The transmitter itself will most likely be destroyed by the explosives needed to break our way in."

They knew he wasn't lying. The Genii level of technology wasn't any further than Earth was at the start of WW2. The very reason it had taken Earth so long to even get the stargate working was that such advanced technology required a minimal level of understanding, and the Genii were rather lacking in certain areas. Duplicating technology was one thing but understanding was another and if the transmitter was as old as the Confederation they were most likely unwilling to even touch it too hard, at this point, for fear of breaking it. Then of course there was the sneaking suspicion that the original transmitter had been acquired rather than created, not that they were going to voice their suspicions it of course.

"So what you're saying is that we have to go in and save the hostages, which he has no doubt taken, and take him down because you can't," accused John.

"It's the only way to save those people and to stop Nadier. Make no mistake he will not be your friend, he'll expect you to find out what he did and will offer the lives of the hostages for whatever he can get from you. He's already claimed to have evidence that the Wraith are still a threat despite the claims you made to the Coalition," said Ladon.

Rodney snorted. "Oh come on. What possible evidence could he have that isn't propaganda?"

Ladon's face remained deadly serious however. "It seems that using his authority he was able to delay reports from reaching me about several planets that have been culled to extinction in the past month."

Everyone was shocked at the news. The possibility that the Wraith were once again rebelling against Echidna's will and feeding on humans could destroy everything they had been working towards. The Coalition, the Travellers and even the Tau'ri themselves might be forced to turn against the Wraith, despite all they had accomplished.

John decided to break the silence. "All right fine, we'll look into to the Wraith, but for now we'll clean up your mess."

* * *

_**Kolumna**_** – Control Room – One hour later**

"Incoming wormhole!"

Around the gate room soldiers tensed up and raised their weapons as the stargate chevrons lit up. As the event horizon shimmered into existence Commander Nadier strode into the control room.

"Report," he barked at the operator of the main terminals they had set up in the control room.

"Sir," the young man replied professionally. "We are not receiving a signal on our frequency, but we are receiving on a known Lantean frequency, audio and visual."

"Put it on the main screen," he said turning to the large antiquated monitor as the face of Richard Woolsey appeared. "Ah you must be the famous Richard Woolsey I have heard so much about."

Woolsey kept his face neutral and his voice calm as he replied. "I am, and I take it you are Commander Nadier."

"Indeed I am. So what can I do for you this fine day?"

"You have laid siege to a city belonging to a member of the Coalition and have captured the cities inhabitants. We want you to release them and leave the city."

"Now why would we feel the need to do that Mr Woolsey?" he asked with a manic gleam in his eye.

"Because I rather imagine you will fall out favour with the rest of the Coalition when they learn that you have taken innocent people hostage. That is if you coup succeeds," said Richard, not rising to the bait.

"Ah but Mr Woolsey you do underestimate us, this coup as you call it has already succeeded. The people have seen that I am a far more effective leader than Ladon ever was, and all that remains is the final march to reclaim our home world from that traitor," said Nadier, with the last word practically being spat.

"Nevertheless the Coalition will not tolerate the unjust imprisonment of innocent people. The situation looks pretty grim for you."

Nadier chuckled. "Allow me to paint a slightly different picture for you Mr Woolsey. You abandoned your damaged city on this world and took with you all of your technology, save for a few trinkets. However you planned to one day return and reclaim your lost city and so you set the locals a task. You would offer them greater standards of living and in return they would unearth and repair the cities super structure. You chose those who would serve your interests over the majority of the local inhabitants and left them with no protection against anyone who might claim salvage. And that is precisely what we have done Mr Woolsey, claimed salvage over this magnificent Ancient city."

"And that's the story you're going with is it?"

Nadier smiled smugly, "Of course Mr Woolsey. It is, after all, the truth."

Woolsey was no fool, from his many years in the courtroom he knew that a guilty suspect would never come out with the truth when a lie could not be disproved. After all it wasn't like they could expect him to confess when they could be recording the entire the conversation. Of course they were recording the entire conversation but it was always best to let the enemy think wonder consider they weren't and then let them run their mouth off. If there's one thing conquerors have in common it's a tendency to brag.

"So you claim. Yet the fact remains you are still holding people living on that planet prisoner for no reason and that is something we will not stand for."

"Now now Mr Woolsey, there is no need for threats. After all what right have you to attack us for liberating the locals from their oppressors?"

"And how have you come to the conclusion that the people you have taken hostage are oppressors?" asked Woolsey, with the emphasis on hostage.

"Simple Mr Woolsey, the majority of this world's inhabitants are being forced to endure poor living conditions while those who follow your wishes have been given the run of this city. Now I understand you must have some interest in getting them back after all they are loyal to you, so why don't we come to some arrangement?"

It suddenly occurred to Woolsey that he was not the only one who had ordered the conversation to be recorded, the Genii had as well. Such an innocent statement was clearly meant to trap him and be used against his people if he refused. But he could not just start hammering out an agreement right here.

"We will need confirmation first that the hostages are alive and well."

"Then if you give me a moment and I can bring you the so called leader of these people and she will confirm it for you."

"Not good enough, we need to talk to them face to face where they won't have to fear you hurting them."

"Oh how you insist on insulting me, but very well. Send some of your people along and they can see for themselves before the negotiations take place."

"Some of my people?" he enquired, sensing a catch.

"Oh yes Mr Woolsey, some of your people," replied Nadier grinning evilly. "You see you have insulted me and my people and so having you at the negotiations would rather sour the mood. But I am sure you have people who are just as capable at these negotiations. From what I understand you have a team charged with first contacts do you not?"

"You mean SGA-1." It was becoming all too clear what the good Commander's game was.

"Ah yes I think I have heard them called that, up till now I have only heard of their exploits and never personally met them. But I understand they have made many successful deals in the past with other worlds, why not add one more to tally?" he asked innocently.

The question may have seemed innocent but Woolsey could see the deeper implications. Nadier had them over a barrel and he was pushing his advantage as much as he could. The one thing that really gritted on his nerves was that he would have, and on occasion had, done exactly the same thing.

"Very well but they will require some time to gather and get ready to leave, shall we say six hours?"

"A little long don't you think, shall we say three?" said Nadier, once again pushing his advantage.

"Very well three," said Woolsey, albeit with some reluctance.

"Do make sure they are not late," smirked Nadier before signalling to cut the connection.

* * *

_**Kolumna**_** – Control Room – Three hours later**

The stargate activated as defence teams raised their weapons towards the shimmering event horizon, ever wary of the threat that might emerge. Re-materialising in an instant the puddle jumper shot out of the stargate, coming to a halt before landing gently on the gate room floor. The rear ramp was lowered briefly and then raised again before the puddle jumper rose once more. Triggering the roof hatch the small ship soared up through the jumper bay and out of the city, cloaking as she continued to gain altitude. And left behind in front of the deactivated stargate, having been obscured from view by the puddle jumper, unarmed, was the legendary SGA-1.

Commander Nadier, ever the proud conqueror, swaggered down the stairs to meet them.

"Ah, the famous SGA-1," he said, smiling for the numerous video camera's dotted around the room. "Such a pleasure to have you here."

SGA-1 kept their faces neutral in the presence of so many cameras.

"I take it you're broadcasting this to your followers around the galaxy?" enquired Sheppard.

"But of course. This is after all a momentous occasion for the Genii and I want all my people to share in it," was the smirked reply.

"A pity you don't have the ability to send it live, but ah well," McKay sniped.

Nadier chuckled in response. "Oh how you underestimate my people Doctor. This negotiation is currently being viewed by the entire Genii confederation. But there will be copies made available to you once we are done."

"First things first," said Sheppard. "We want to see Petra, as agreed."

"Oh your little lap dog will be here shortly," said Nadier, with a smirk. "But until then you'll have to wait, so why don't we take this elsewhere."

"I don't think so," replied Sheppard steely.

Nadier was still smiling but his tone was equally steely. "I'm afraid I'll have to insist."

Ronon growled softly, and his fingers clenched around the empty holster on his hip, causing Nadier to smirk again.

"Like I said, its not gonna happen. Our ship is standing by, they don't hear from and they will open fire. When we're done they'll come and get us but until then we're staying right here."

Nadier laughed, but he saw no harm in granting them this small victory.

"Very well, stand if you must." He turned and smiled when he saw Petra being brought in. "Ah Petra, how good of you to join us. Your masters have come to bargain for your release."

Petra opened her mouth to talk but held her tongue when she saw the pointed looks her friends were giving her.

"Petra," asked Teyla. "Are you and your people all right?"

Petra sighed, and they could see the tiredness in her eyes. "I am well and so are the rest of my people, to my knowledge."

"Do not worry," Teyla assured her. "Your people will be free soon enough."

"Well I think that's enough talking don't you?" said Nadier.

Teyla scowled slightly. Although this type of attitude had been expected from him it didn't mean they had to like it.

Nevertheless Teyla put on a brave face for Petra's sake. "Go back to your people Petra and tell them it will be alright."

"Indeed it will," added Nadier. "Once they give us what we want you'll be back at their beck and call in no time."

Petra scowled at him as she was led away by her guards.

Nadier smirked at her retreating form. "Now shall we get down to business?"

"What do you want?" Sheppard asked bluntly.

"What I want is for my people to be restored to the great power they once were," Nadier stated proudly.

"And what do you think the odds are of that happening when you go around conquering worlds and ignoring treaties?" sarcastically asked McKay.

But Nadier would not be brought down by the Doctor's impudent tone.

"Oh the lies you Lanteans insist on spreading about our noble cause. But no matter, either way you will provide us with what we want."

"And if we don't?"

"Then your willing servants on this world will not be returned to you," Nadier stated simply.

The threat was unspoken but it was still there. "But I am sure you are as eager as I to reach a compromise so let us get down to business."

"First things first I want a dozen of your invisible space ships."

"Not going to ask for all of them like Cowen did?" asked McKay.

"I am not a fool like Cowen, and have no intention of arguing over how many of those vessels you have in possession. Now shall we add the same number of your wonderful little power generators to list."

"What kind of generators?" asked McKay.

"Like the one upstairs that is powering this city."

"That all?" asked Sheppard.

"No, I also want you to include the design plans for them."

"And yes Doctor," Nadier added. "I believe my people are quite capable of figuring them out for ourselves, this will just speed up the process."

"I wasn't going to say a word," said McKay, seemingly surprisingly innocent.

"I'm sure," said Nadier, with a hint of sarcasm. "And lastly I'll take a block of C4 for every person we turn over to you."

"Remind me, just how many people do you have here?" asked Sheppard.

"Let's make it a nice round number, say one hundred?"

"One hundred blocks of C4," said Sheppard in a level tone.

"I think we have a deal," replied Nadier.

"So one hundred blocks of C4, a dozen puddle jumpers, a dozen generators and the plans for the generators," listed Teyla.

"Do you call those little space ships of yours puddle jumpers," asked Nadier.

"Indeed we do," said Sheppard.

"Then that is what I want for handing over your servants. Do we have a deal?"

"Please wait one moment," requested Sheppard.

"For what?"

Suddenly the tower was rocked by an explosion. As the noise quietened SGA-1 spoke in unison.

"I believe that answers both of your questions."

Before Nadier could speak his wrist communicator crackled into life.

"…Nadier. We are under attack. Repeat, Commander Nadier we are under attack. The Lanteans have destroyed the sensor shielding generator. Repeat. The Lanteans have destroyed the sensor shielding generator."

"Shoot them," shouted Nadier as he pointed an angry finger at the calm SGA-1.

The soldiers around the room immediately raised there weapons and opened fire on the defenceless team, filling the room with the deafening sound of gunfire. The windows behind them shattered as hundreds of bullets penetrated them. But when shooting stopped as magazines were emptied the team remained standing, unfazed and unharmed by the vicious assault, their outlines flickering slightly.

As the final spent round hit the floor the team looked through the open ceiling hatches to the sky above. Bewildered the Genii also looked up and saw a rectangular shape above descending towards them, getting larger and larger as it dropped lower and lower. And as the Genii watched the team once again spoke in unison.

"Ready or not, because here…"

As they momentarily paused to the shock of all present the shapes of the team slid together and began to change into the shape of a smirking dark haired woman.

"…I come," finished ISIS.

* * *

_**Atlantis**_** - Control Room - Four hours ago**

"Okay Ladon if we're going to do this we need information," said Sheppard. "What forces and equipment are we going to be going up against?"

"In his time here Nadier personally commanded an entire company of soldiers that are extremely loyal to him," replied Ladon. "From what I can gather he requisitioned a large amount of weaponry along with a subspace transmitter and a sensor shielding generator."

"How do these generators work exactly?" asked Rodney.

"They create a large electrical interference field which disrupts sensors," replied Ladon. "From previous experience we know they effectively block Wraith sensors."

"Well the sensors on the _Weir_ are a lot more powerful than the Wraiths so they shouldn't present much of a problem."

"How long would it take the _Weir_ to get there?" asked Sheppard.

Rodney shrugged. "At top speed, a few hours at most."

"You should know that Nadier will be expecting you to contact him soon," warned Ladon.

"Then I guess it'll be up to our resident diplomat to buy us some time," said Sheppard, turning to Woolsey.

"I'll see what I can do," he said.

* * *

_**Weir**_** – Hyperspace – Three hours ago **

The team were talking via subspace to Woolsey, who had just finished the opening negotiations with Nadier.

"I have good news and bad news," he said. "The good news is that he is willing to negotiate for the hostages. The bad news is that he wants you to be there, and he's expecting you in three hours."

"Ouch," winced Sheppard. "How did we end up in this mess?"

"Best I could do I'm afraid. He's in a position of power and he knows it, although luckily he's trying to act like his claim to the city is legitimate so he's not threatening the lives of the hostages."

"How does he convince people of this?" asked Teyla.

"Apparently he believes the city is _Atlantis_ and that we abandoned it after it crashed on the planet. Supposedly we left the locals in charge of repairs and he is claiming salvage rights," Woolsey answered.

"The guy really doesn't understand how we do things," scoffed McKay.

"I hope you have a plan," said Woolsey.

"We'll arrive at the planet in a couple of hours. We'll decide on the final plan when we know what the situation is," said Sheppard.

* * *

_**Weir**_** – Kolumnar Orbit – One hour ago**

"Okay, what have we got?" asked Sheppard.

"The sensor shielding covering the city is having no effect on sensors," said ISIS. "However the field is preventing use of beaming technology but I believe I can approximate the location of the generator."

"Well so much for Plan A," said Sheppard. "Any ideas people?"

"Actually I think I might have one, but we need to contact _Atlantis_," said McKay.

"What are you thinking?"

"I say we do what we always do, go in and take out the bad guys."

"You sure you want to charge right in McKay?" asked Ronon. "Could get dangerous."

"There are at least an entire company of soldiers down there," added Teyla.

"Hey you me," said McKay. When the going gets tough I have a clever plan."

"You know we might get shot at right?" asked Sheppard.

"Hey that's the risk we take, besides I don't plan on going in guns blazing. If all goes well they won't even know we there until it's too late."

"Alright what's the plan?"

McKay turned to ISIS. "Think you can handle playing us for a little while?"

"I believe I have observed you all enough to play the parts convincingly enough," said ISIS. "But I will require the Commander's permission to temporarily use someone's image."

"Granted," said Sheppard.

When the puddle jumper came through the stargate in the _Kolumna_ control room, unknown to the Genii, it was empty except for the pilot. But, as instructed, the pilot landed and opened and closed the hatch again. Behind the jumper ISIS appeared donning the disguise of the team, before the roof hatches opened and the jumper flew out of the city. When the ship reached a suitable height she cloaked and SGA-1 beamed in to the rear compartment.

As instructed the jumper descended to hover next to one of the balconies on the tower. The rear hatch lowered and the team bailed out ever wary of being spotted by the multiple machine nests scattered around the ruined city.

Making their way stealthily through the corridors the team quickly arrived near the Genii generator when McKay signalled for them to stop.

"What's up Rodney?" asked Sheppard.

Rodney held up his life signs detector. "There are two guards outside the generator room and a patrol nearby."

"Damn it, how close?"

"I'd say a couple of minutes away."

"Are you still disrupting their communications?" asked Teyla.

"Yes but it means our own radios are next to useless so we can't contact ISIS."

"Okay here's the plan. We take those guards down quietly then shut down the generator," said Sheppard. "ISIS can't stall for long."

"I'm on it," said Ronon, flicking his gun to stun mode.

He darted round the corner and shot both guards before they could even raise their weapons.

"We're clear."

Rodney ran into the generator room while the others took up positions along the corridor waiting for the patrol to arrive.

"Oh crap," said Rodney.

"McKay," shouted Sheppard, as he fired off another burst from his P90 at the enemy soldiers. "We don't have time for this. What's the problem?"

"This thing's alarmed. I just switch it off and the whole city will know we're here."

"Damn it." They were keeping the patrol pinned down for now but if the rest of the Genii were alerted to their presence the plan was screwed.

Sheppard ducked away from a burst of fire and pulled out a half block of C4, tossing it to McKay. "Place the charge and let's move it."

"Charge is set," said McKay as he backed out of the door, P90 spitting bullets at the patrol.

"Pull back," shouted Sheppard over the weapons fire from both sides. While Sheppard and McKay laid down cover fire Teyla and Ronon retreated back down the corridor.

As the team pulled back the Genii patrol advanced further down the corridor and as they reached the generator room Sheppard pulled out a remote detonator. Flicking open the safety catch he flicked the switch and pressed the button. When nothing happened he swore, realising the jammer that was affecting communications was screwing with the detonator signal. He pressed the button repeatedly until he was rewarded with a soft thump and a burst of flame shooting out of the generator room. The four man Genii patrol were caught in the blast wave and were sent flying across the corridor before coming to a bone crunching halt as they hit the opposite wall.

"Rodney, shut down the jammer."

When McKay gave him a thumbs up he tapped his ear piece. "ISIS, have you located the hostages?"

"Yes Commander, they are all aboard the Weir and the ship is entering the atmosphere as per your instructions."

"Bring us aboard and state our demands to the Genii."

"Aye Commander."

* * *

_**Kolumna**_** – Control Room**

"What are you?" asked Nadier.

"I am ISIS, and I am talking to you via hologram. I am here to offer you the terms of your surrender."

Nadier snarled. "And just why should we surrender when a moment ago we were discussing terms?"

"Without your generator the hostages you were holding have all been beamed aboard the _Weir_. As we speak your gun nests are being targeted by the weapons on the _Weir_ for elimination. However it would be easier to simply destroy the entire city."

"You would not destroy your own city," stated Nadier with iron certainty.

A hologram of Petra suddenly appeared next to ISIS.

"I think you'll find that _Kolumna_ is my city," she said. "And I want you out of it one way or another. So drop your weapons and surrender before I give them permission to open fire."

"You're bluffing."

"Minister Petra, do I have permission to fire a warning shot?" asked ISIS.

"Granted," said Petra with zeal.

Before any of the Genii in the room could react a single shot from a railgun travelled through the open hanger doors and hit the gate room floor, not two metres from Nadier's feet and knocking him backwards. When he finally pulled himself to his feet his was visibly shaking.

"As you can see," said ISIS. "I am more than capable of eliminating you with ease if need be, and without much damage to the city. However if it is Minister Petra's wish I will destroy the entire city to guarantee your removal. My commander would prefer that you surrender, so drop your weapons and prepare to receive armed marines."

A scowling Nadier spat blood at their feet before tossing his pistol on the floor, the rest of the Genii present following suit.

"Attention all forces," he said into his communicator. "Drop your weapons and surrender to the Lantean forces as they find you, that's an order."

"Thank you," said ISIS.

"Marines are beaming down now," she added as said marines poured into the room from all entrances.

"I'll be taking my city back now," said a gloating Petra as Nadier was restrained and dragged away.


	14. The oncoming storm

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

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**Review Responses**

**stark40763: Ah, if only it were that simple. Just wait and see how that goes.**

**Shadow of Realm: Nadier may have been a power hungry idiot but at least he was a good leader, and a good leader won't needlessly sacrifice his men. And i find being targeted by a ship mounted railgun to be a very good negotiating tool.**

**Jedi Carpet: Thats what i was aiming for, a classic episode style rescue, glad you like it. Also anyone who is kind enough to leave a review i will respond to at some point.**

**Daniwilder: I'm sorry it took so long, and i hope another chapter so soon helps to make up for it. On the plus side if anyone wants to re-read everything they should be happy with the improvements. Oh and, do you doubt my good will towards Petra and her people?**

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**Unknown System **

Near a small green world, with an even smaller moon, a hyperspace window tore open and deposited the massive bulk of the _Arima_ and her sentinels back into normal space. Her only passengers were Echidna and the Wraith known as Todd.

"Matriarch, we have arrived at the planet," said Todd, respectfully.

"Indeed," said Echidna. "And I've told you before, I am your mother first and Matriarch second."

"My apologies, Mother."

Echidna sighed, "You know sometimes I think I should never have left you alone if this is the result."

"You are Echidna, the one true Matriarch to all Wraith," argued Todd. "It is only right that you be afforded the respect you deserve."

"But to respect me you will do as I ask. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about your sense of humour so I know when you are winding me up," she added.

Todd smirked, "As you say mother."

Echidna cringed, while Thypeous chuckled over the mental link.

"My love, try and remember that he's just happy to have you back, as am I."

"I know, but he knows how much I dislike being treated like I am some great leader," Echidna replied.

In their mental world Thypeous shrugged. "Get used to it. Soon you'll be looking at the respect of thousands of Wraith, and quickly to, now that the Tau'ri have started the mass conversions."

At which point Todd gave a polite cough and dragged Echidna out of the mental landscape she had slipped into.

"Might I suggest we get started mother," he said.

"Do not worry my son," said Echidna. "I had Thypeous deploy the hornets when we arrived. The sensor data should be coming in now."

As Todd turned to the console in front of him, bringing up the data the hornets were sending about the planet below.

"I still can't believe you let Sheppard name them that," he muttered, though not very quietly.

"Darts no longer seemed appropriate and the man does seem to have a knack for naming things. Todd is rather a good name for you," she added.

"Todd is not the name you gave me, mother," said a slightly annoyed Todd, as he went through the data.

"And no one else knows your real name anymore because you gave it up when you saved me," was the stern reply.

"I did what was necessary to keep you alive, and if my name became one of infamy then so be it. It is a small price to pay."

"But the name Todd is known, you are a legend amongst the Tau'ri and the Wraith for your exploits. Todd is the name the Tau'ri gave their ally and it is a name I will have you carry on using. I will not have you forced to carry the burden of your past when you have only ever tried to do the right thing."

Todd sighed.

"Very well mother. If that is what my Matriarch commands," he added with a smirk.

"That's my boy."

"Indeed. Oh and I'm giving my vote to the name hornet so I'm afraid your outnumbered son."

Todd snorted. "Well your hornets are back on board father, except for the one scouting the moon which seems to have suffered engine failure and crashed. We should probably retrieve it."

"Hmm, the poor creatures haven't been out and about for millennia so I suppose that should be expected. I'll run checks on the others to make sure they are all alright."

The hornets, like the sentinels, may look like their counterparts in shape but were fundamentally different in design. Instead of a pilot they possessed a simple animalistic mind. This means that, once they were fed basic instructions telepathically, they are capable of performing independent tasks without the need for constant input from the _Arima_. They were, essentially, the trained pets of the Matriarch, as Todd had so eloquently put it when asked.

"I'll bring us around to the moon. What's the report on the planet?" asked Echidna.

"There are numerous villages, but all have been abandoned. In fact the scouts have found no life signs on the entire planet. It would seem the Genii reports are accurate."

Echidna sighed tiredly. "Six worlds checked and all have been picked clean. It seems that I will be forced to carry out the threat I gave, I'll have to kill my children."

"If they refuse to accept the life you offered them mother, then they are no family of ours," Todd stated flatly. "Besides it does not have to be you who puts an end to this. I have no fear of doing what I should have done long ago when I saw what my brothers and sisters were turning into."

"You still blame yourself don't you my son," she said sadly, sinking lower into her throne chair. "You think you allowed your brothers and sisters to turn against me. In your eyes it doesn't matter how the rest of the galaxy sees you because you already believe you are a monster."

Todd refused to turn to face her, instead keeping his gaze fixed on the console in front of him.

"It was my fault mother," he said in a low voice. "I saw that they were becoming twisted and yet I did nothing. You were just happy to have your children back safely but I saw that they weren't my brothers and sisters and I did nothing until it was already too late."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look into his mothers loving eyes, glistening with held back tears.

"It is not your fault, it is mine. I put you though this misery because I wanted us to a family, because I had felt that the universe had already taken from me too much. But I still have the family I need. I have you and Thypeous and now I have my descendants to care for. I will not disregard my responsibilities as a mother any longer. I will protect my child if I can, and I will protect you from this. You have already done to much for me as it is."

Todd gave a weak smile in return. "It is my duty to serve you, mother."

Echidna returned the smile with one of her own. "And it is mine to serve you."

They embraced each other, as the ship began to circle the moon and was struck by weapons fire. As they struggled to maintain their balance Thypeous screamed over the telepathic link.

"Wraith ships bearing down on us. Count; one hive ship, a dozen cruisers, and several hundred darts with more being launched. Sentinels are engaging the cruisers."

Even as the Arima was being rocked by the concentrated weapons fire, her sentinels reacted automatically and began to engage the attacking ships. The single main weapons on each sentinels tip targeted a cruiser while hornets were launched from the sizeable hangers on the underbelly to engage the massing darts.

Hunting in packs the hornets quickly met the fast approaching darts and began exchanging fire, racking up the kills. Like a trained team of hunting dogs each pack of five flawlessly worked together to overwhelm the limited skills of the drone pilots they were facing, dealing out much more damage than they took.

Meanwhile the sentinels had charged their main weapons and opened fire on the charging cruisers. As they edged closer to the _Arima_ the sentinels reacted automatically, targeting the cruisers that were exchanging fire on them over the cruisers heading determinedly towards the _Arima_. Three cruisers quickly succumbed to fire from the sentinels, their organic armour unable to withstand against each ball of energy that burned into their hulls with deadly accuracy.

In fact the remaining three cruisers seemed indifferent to this constantly directing fire towards the sentinels while their fellows continued to hurtle towards the _Arima_. Plummeting like meteors from above drawing ever closer, temporarily filling the blind spot that had been left open as Echidna staggered to the control chair so that the ship could return fire. But it was already too late, as the cruisers neared closer and closer until their aim became and moments before they impacted Thypeous screamed over the telepathic link.

"FOUR CRUISERS ARE RAMMING! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" before the ship shook from the collision.

The combined mass of the four cruisers tore into the highly durable hull armour of the _Arima_. Ripping through layer after layer of weakened organic matter they burrowed deeper and deeper into the armour, before finally exploding and burning through the remains damaging the systems beneath. The four cruiser impacts had seemed like stones thrown at an angry Wraith queen but unbeknownst to Echidna, as she finally sat in her chair and seized control of her fleet telepathically, they had been carefully aimed.

As she sat in the chair and the interface connected with her mind Thypeous was screaming at her over the link.

"ECHIDNA DON'T CONNECT!"

But it was already too late, the interface had been activated and the damage was done. The main telepathic amplifier, which had been damaged when the cruisers impacted the ship, failed to hold the massive amounts of power being channelled into it and exploded. The ramifications were horrific, the damage to the ship was negligible but the psychic feedback sent through the interface momentarily shattered Echidna's mind. The energy sent spiking back tore through her body, her Wraith physiology allowing her to recover from the damage but leaving her greatly weakened as a result. She slumped in the chair, exhausted from the assault on both her body and her mind, feeling herself slipping closer and closer over the edge towards unconsciousness.

As the telepathic link with the fleet was severed protocols ingrained within their programming, designed to prevent loss of control of the ships guardians, automatically kicked in. The hornets eliminated their targets before turning back to the hangers they came from, dodging weapons fire from the darts they had just been duelling with. Meanwhile the sentinels finished off the last of the cruisers before manoeuvring to the underside of the _Arima_ and latching themselves to the ships docking ports. With the hornets back in their cradles, and the sentinels latched onto the hull of the _Arima_, the Wraith flagship was at the mercy of the remaining enemy hive ship and a swarm of darts. The ambush had been carefully planned and carried out with deadly efficiency, with the end result being that the _Arima_ had been rendered unable to defend itself, and unable to enter hyperspace without Echidna to command her.

Todd was quickly by his mother's side, examining her condition while mentally screaming at his father.

"What is our status?" he asked frantically.

"All enemy cruisers have been eliminated but there are still a large number of darts out there, along with a hive ship."

"The sentinels should be more than a match for a single hive ship, have them take it out."

"Defensive protocol would have them do so automatically, but the kamikaze cruisers damaged the main telepathic amplifier. When the connection was severed prematurely the guardian forces were automatically recalled once their current targets were eliminated."

Todd growled. "In other words we're defenceless."

"In other words, this wasn't a chance attack. They knew exactly where to hit us. We're just lucky they are holding fire for now."

Echidna moaned as she began to regain consciousness, "What happened?"

"We were ambushed mother. They knew exactly where to hit us, for now we are disabled," said Todd as he stopped her from trying to rise from her seat.

"Rest now my love," said Thypeous, as tendrils emerged from the control chair to envelope Echidna, easing her discomfort as they started to heal her. "Let your body heal."

"Who could have done this?" she asked tiredly.

Over the Wraith hive mind came a low, evil chuckle accompanied by two familiar voices.

"Who indeed?" the voices asked, followed by shrill laughter.

Echidna paled and tried to rise up out of her chair, but was stopped by the tendrils and her son's strong hands.

"No, it can't be," she moaned.

"Did you think you had killed us?" the voices taunted. "Did you think we had fallen before the pathetic humans who you had allied yourself with? Did you really think it would be so easy as to give them permission to kill us?"

"Stheno, Euryale, how?"

"Did you really think that was us ruling over that desolate world, controlling a mere handful of followers?" they spat in disgust. "We were among the great leaders who secured our rightful place as rulers of this galaxy and you thought we would be content studying a relic of the past."

"How did you survive? Your ship was annihilated."

The voices laughed mockingly. "What's the matter our clever mother can't figure it out? Oh yes, that ship was utterly destroyed and all aboard perished, but we weren't aboard."

"But I sensed your minds aboard that ship. Your subordinates knew you were there, you must have been aboard."

"And yet we can be in two places at once, but not since you betrayed us."

Realisation hit her like a hammer, "No you couldn't have…you would not have allowed it."

"Oh but in this form and with these gifts we can be so persuasive."

"You cloned yourselves, didn't you?" spat Todd. "And then once you copied your minds across you tortured your clones into obedience."

"Ah aren't you clever brother? Here take a look." Over the link they sent images, horrific images of the sisters torturing their doubles. Over and over they drained them to a withered and nearly lifeless state before restoring them once again.

"Clever enough to see that your course will lead to the destruction of our race," he retorted, dispelling the images from his mind.

"And yet it is you that is at our mercy, weak and vulnerable and unable to do a thing about it."

"And yet you have ceased fire even though you know that every second you waste is time for the systems to repair and the Matriarch to recover."

"Only because we choose it."

"Because you need this ship intact," he accused.

Their response was uncontrolled laughter. "We needed a cover story, an excuse for our limited presence. But now it is no longer necessary, and with our clones killed the Arima can be disposed of. Mother will not be allowed to interfere with our plans any longer, but your knowledge will aid us greatly."

Todd's eyes widened in shock and he abruptly severed the link. He turned to Echidna, put his hands on her temple and sent a command to her exhausted mind.

"Sleep now mother and when you wake all will be well."

But she would not do so willing. She fought the command and her fractured mind made her pay the price. As her eyes slid shut her dreams were plagued by memories.

**10,300 years ago – Iratus bug homeworld**

The cave was dark, damp and filled with life. Moving life. Creeping life. This life was now only scuttling insects, which had herded her and her team deep into this cave with the soul purpose of ending their lives, and her. Soon, vey soon, like her team mates before her she would become the food for the insects queen. By now her eyes had adjusted to the dark and she wished they hadn't. Around her she could she the withered, dead husks that had once been her team mates and as the final horrific screams around her died out she knew her time would shortly come. She wanted to run. She wanted to get away from this place, away from this world of nightmare creatures and back home, back to her love, back to Thypeous. But she could not. The queens spawn had covered her, dragged her down and would bite her whenever she struggled against them until she submitted to their will. But even as she pondered this she could hear the click, click, click as the queen scuttled to her. She could feel her heart racing and sense the creature's on her part to make way for the approaching horror. Its presence chocked her as it neared, forcing her to screw her eyes shut just so she could pretend it wasn't coming for her. When at last it sunk its teeth into her neck she couldn't help but scream, scream until she had no air left in her lungs then inhale deeply and scream again. But she could sense something new, something she did not expect. The pain, oh the pain, was there but she did not feel her life slipping away from her. She felt strange, like her insides were burning. The queen latched onto her neck began to shake and spasm and she quickly joined it. Her entire body thrashed and she felt a white hot pain in her hands, like her palms were being cut. As their thrashings continued the queen finally detached from her neck, letting out a high pitched wailing that could almost have been a scream. The wailing was contagious, with the cry quickly being taken up by the queen's young, pouring off of her, desperate to get away. Suddenly finding herself unencumbered by the creatures she did the only thing she could, she ran. She ran from the creatures, ran from the cave and then kept running.

She stumbled through the forest, clawing at her stomach, growing ever more desperate. She was hungry, so hungry, oh so very hungry. The slits on her palms were throbbing, a dull ache that would not go away and would only get worse the hungrier she got. It didn't matter how much she consumed, normal food would not satisfy her hunger no matter how much she consumed. Numerous fruit trees had been picked clean in her desperation and her hunger had only grown worse. Either she would have to consume greater amounts to satisfy her self or her body now craved something else, but what she did not know. A snap of a twig and her head snapped around to the location of the noise, and was then that she saw it. A large dark coated wildebeest that had stumbled into the nearby clearing, her presence unnoticed by the creature. In her hunger fuelled state her senses were heightened. Her hearing sharpened to the point where she could hear every beat of its heart, every panicked breath it took. It seemed so much like her; lost, scared and confused, but more importantly so full of life. Her hands were throbbing more than before and instinct seemed to kick in. Before she knew what she was doing, she running, flat out, straight at the creature. Before it had noticed her presence her raised palm connected with the wildebeest's side as she tackled it to the ground. Instinct forced her actions as she penetrated the creatures flesh and started to feed. She could feel it, the energy being drained from the creature and into her, and it was wonderful. Instinct left her and she continued of her own will, draining the life from the beast, leaving behind a withered, decrepit, lifeless husk. She stared at the remains of the once proud wildebeest and realized what she had done, realized what she had become and realized that after days of unbearable pain her hunger was gone and she felt strong.

The decision had been made, the path chosen and started down, and despite her wishes she knew that there was no other choice in the matter. She stared at the clearing in the forest, which was slowly being covered by the creeping tendrils, and the large mass at the centre of it all. A mass that had started out as the man she loved, but once he had injected himself with the pathogen he created the tendrils had begun to grow inside of him until they expanded outwards and started to absorb the forest around him. It would be a long time before the process was completed, but if it was successful then they would have eternity to spend together. If not, then she would treasure the _Arima_ as the great gift Thypeous had deemed it necessary to sacrifice his physical form for. She turned away from the clearing, to retreat to the home they had made together, until such a time as her new home would be ready.

_**Arima**_** - Bridge**

Echidna was jolted out of her dreams by a bright light shining in her eyes. She groaned and batted the pen light, held by Dr Keller, away.

"How you feeling lass?" asked the familiar accent of the one she knew as Dr Beckett.

"Where am I? What happened?" she asked, as she groggily sat up, finding the tendrils that had held her gone.

"We received your distress signal and towed the ship back to our system," said Keller. "The ships healing systems and your own regeneration abilities seem to have repaired the damage, but you'll need a good meal in you to regain your strength."

"Distress signal?" she murmured. "I sent no distress signal."

Her eyes snapped open.

"Where is my son?" she asked in a panic. But when she received no answer her panic only grew.

"Typheous, what happened? Show me!" she demanded.

"Very well. I am sorry my love." This was the last thing she heard before the memories flooded into her mind.

**Flashback**

Todd watched his mother as her eyes closed and her drooped. When he was sure she was asleep he turned back to the control console.

"Father, I'm setting a course for orbit around the sun. I'm also activating a distress beacon on a frequency I know the Tau'ri use."

"What are you planning Todd?"

"The hull armour of the _Arima_ will be strong enough to withstand the radiation field long enough for the Tau'ri arrive. In the mean time I'm going to give those harpies what they want, eventually."

"Why do they want you, when this ship holds the potential knowledge to allow them to strengthen their ships?"

Todd sighed. "Because father, I found a way to interface ZPM's with a hive ships systems to make it potentially even more powerful than the _Arima_."

"What, how?"

"That is a question I do not intend to answer, to anyone."

"If you give yourself up to them they will torture you to get the information you have. You saw what they did to their own clones!"

"I will go into a temporary state of hibernation, which should buy me some time before they wake me. Besides torture is something I have and can survive, at least until mother finds me."

"I know her Todd, she will not stop. She will come for you."

"I know father. That is the one thing that will allow me to survive the ordeal to come."

"The sentinels can be piloted you know, once I unlock the controls temporarily."

Todd grinned. "I know. I think it's time for me to return the favour."

"Don't worry I can grow a new one."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"Go to umbilical three. That one was the least damaged so it should survive long enough for what I believe you have planned. Oh and before you ask there is a shuttle onboard."

"Goodbye father."

"Goodbye my son."

And with that, as the Arima headed towards the sun with the enemy fleet gaining on them, Todd left to board the sentinel.

"You win sisters, I am coming to you," he sent.

The lone sentinel detached from the Arima, and turned to face the enemy hive. Engines firing at full thrust the sentinel charged forwards, as the Arima slid ever closer to the radiation field. As the ship continued charging towards the enemy hive, with Todd at the helm, the sisters realised what he was planning and began to open fire. Bolt after bolt of pure energy impacted the hull of the sentinel, slowing but not stopping the inevitable collision. The hive desperately tried to turn away in a vain attempt to avoid its fate but to avail. The hull of the sentinel held under the constant barrage of fire and even the suicide collisions of the dart swarm could not stop it completely. Just as a shuttle left both the hangers of the sentinel and the hive ship the hive was struck. The burning and scarred remains of the sentinel hit the hive full on, tearing through the weaker bio armour just as its biological reactor detonated. As the hive was consumed by the explosion of the sentinel its own reactors went up, consuming the remains in fire.

On board the shuttle Todd slumped in his seat as he forced his body into hibernation to stave off the inevitable torture from his sisters aboard the other shuttle.

As the memories poured into Echidna's mind her knees went weak and she collapsed on the floor. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cried out with both her voice and mind. The hive mind was consumed by her grief, sorrow and loss, and underneath all of those emotions of despair, anger. Anger at the betrayal of her child, anger at the kidnap of her child, anger at the horrible suffering they would put her through in their lust for power. She vowed that they would know this woman's fury. They would fear the oncoming storm, and ultimately they would know a mothers wrath.

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**Please review, it only takes a moment.**


	15. Paths chosen

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

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**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: It felt i owed it to Echidna to give her a bit more depth seeing as i only briefly touched upon the events shown. This way i got to expand the readers understanding of her character without having some of her mystery removed from the point of view of the other characters. I will always aim to keep the readers guessing, and besides when is anything so straight forward.**

**Shadow of Realm: Well the past does have important ramifications for the future, a fact that it would be good to remember for this story. Its always nice to know i can still surprise my readers, but wait till you see whats still to come.**

**Jedi Carpet: Thank you. It took some time to estabilish a suitable time line i was happy with, as well come up with a suitable origin story. I'm glad you apreciate it. **

* * *

**New Orilla – Ida Galaxy**

When the Asgard went into isolation, or what some were calling hiding, they made sure to sweep their footsteps clean, leaving nothing behind of their culture and technology in their home galaxy. On every planet that they had ever made a foothold on they had meticulously removed all traces of their culture. Buildings had been deconstructed down to the very foundations and mine shafts had been collapsed after being cleared of equipment. To complete the illusion of their death they had even blown up their capital world, the resulting explosion taking two Ori motherships along with it. They had then withdrawn from their home galaxy with what remained of their once mighty fleet; consisting of the _Valhalla_, 50 _Beliskner_-class vessels, 30 _O'Neill_-class vessels and 20 science ships, and hidden themselves on the Nox homeworld.

Now though the Asgard were re-establishing themselves as one of the now five great races. The first step involved rebuilding their entire planetary based civilisation, which would normally be a massive undertaking, time consuming and a horrible position to be in. Luckily the situation wasn't as bad as it might sound as the Valhalla had been designed to support their entire population, and as such had acted as the races home for the past two years with the advanced technology aboard providing them with everything they needed. But even without this problem reconstruction was no small feat. Thankfully they had several advantages on their side, consisting of matter conversion technology and mining robots. The most common mining robots were shaped like large manta rays and equipped with mining lasers, large tunnelling drills, claws and scoops. Entire packs of these would work in harmony on a single mining shaft borrowing through the dirt to the precious resources they were programmed to seek out. The next most common ones were shaped like hammerhead sharks, with a large container on their backs. These robots were equipped with scoops and claws along with a point to point beaming system that sent the ore to the transport robots hovering above. These massive robots were reminiscent of blue whales, their insides filled with dozens of storage containers to receive the unprocessed ore. Once full the transport craft would be replaced by another and would take the unprocessed ore to a processing station. They were programmed to receive commands from a manned control hub, telling them where they needed to mine and what to do with the unprocessed ore they gathered. The craft were also equipped with powerful sensors which would be send mineral readings to the diggers beneath the surface. Without instructions however they would switch back to default programming, searching for resources with their built in sensors and taking the ore to the nearest automated processing station. Once deposited the ore would be processed using matter separation technology and then stored and guarded. Then matter construction beams could be used to make any buildings that they had the design plans for in their database. Because the Asgard were environmentally conscious the excess earth would be put back into the tunnels behind the robots, as the support struts were removed, once a secondary shaft had been dug.

_Valhalla_ was sitting in orbit around New Orilla, the planet the Asgard had chosen to rebuild their civilisation on. The name paid homage to the previous world that the Asgard had chosen as their new homeworld in an attempt to salvage their race. The attempt had been largely successful, until their genetic degradation problem had finally hit home and they had been forced to convert much of the new capital into _Valhalla_ itself. Now the Asgard world ship was busy churning out massive numbers of mining droids and maintenance drones, all to be sent out to other worlds to get the resources they needed and expand their influence. The science ships were all being sent to previously occupied worlds to check their suitability as colonies and mining worlds. _Beliskner_-class vessels were being used to transport masses of resources from nearby mining worlds and then utilising their matter constructors to assemble buildings from the raw materials. A number of _O'Neill_ vessels were acting as a defence screen in system while others were guarding the off world mining sites and acting as scout ships.

* * *

A fleet of five Asgard ships, consisting of an O'Neill type and four science vessels, were not actually in the Ida galaxy and were in an entirely different galaxy altogether. This fleet of ships was the Pegasus expeditionary force, tasked with tracking down the Vanir and bringing them back for judgement by the Asgard high council should it be necessary. The fleet of ships exited hyperspace in the New Lantea system and the fleet flagship, the _Daniel Jackson_, hailed _Atlantis_.

"This is Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard science ship the Daniel Jackson offering greetings to the Atlantis expedition."

"Greetings Supreme Commander," came the reply. "I am Richard Woolsey, chief administrator of _Atlantis_. How can we help our allies?"

"It is the Asgard who offering you assistance Mr Woolsey. I have been given command of the Pegasus expeditionary force and have been tasked with finding an offshoot of our race that you have come to know as the Vanir."

"I see," said Woolsey, slightly puzzled. "But I still do not understand why you are here. I understood that all the information pertaining to our encounter with the Vanir had been handed over to you."

"Indeed it was, however my authority as commander of this fleet affords me certain privileges. One of those privileges allows facilitating the return of Asgard to previously assigned positions, namely the return of Asgard engineers to the Tau'ri ships they were assigned to. This would be to continue relations with the Tau'ri that the Asgard enjoyed in the past."

"I see. But to my knowledge the _Daedalus_ is the only ship we have here that had an Asgard engineer at one time."

"That is correct. But while we understand that such crewmen would not be necessary for your _Pegasus_-class vessels, as they possess an AI monitoring system, your battle cruisers had an Asgard crew member to provide assistance. We would also like to offer one of our scientists to serve on the _Apollo_, with your permission of course."

"I would have to put it to the individual ship commanders first, but thank you for the offer. However I suspect there is something else that brought you here, would I be right?"

"Indeed there is. From what O'Neill told me you have been assisting the Wraith in solving their feeding problem, however there are still a lot of Wraith that have not received the treatment."

"I take it your offering to assist us with speeding up the process?" enquired Woolsey.

"If you were to allow our engineers access to the machine you are currently using I believe we could reproduce the effect. We already utilised similar technology in our cloning attempts."

"I'll talk to Echidna, but I believe she would agree to it. However they are still in the process of establishing their agriculture and if our food synthesisers become overtaxed can I count on your assistance?"

"I intend to leave our warship, the _O'Neill_, in orbit to assist you in guarding duties. The ship will remain unless its presence is required in our search for the Vanir."

"Do you have any idea how long it will take to find them?" Searching the entire Pegasus galaxy could take a long time and the longer it would take would mean a delay in helping the Wraith.

"It is hard to determine an exact period of time, however considering the number of planets that they would have settled on to begin with it should not take long. But we will not be beginning the search until we have provided the Wraith with assistance, if they wish it," Thor added.

"I appreciate the sentiment, and I'm hoping you'll get to meet Echidna. However I should warn you that she has been rather depressed as of late and may not feel like taking visitors," Woolsey warned.

"I understand, I have read the reports on the incident," said Thor with a touch of sadness in eyes, like he was reliving an old memory. "Please offer her my condolences. It must be hard on her."

"I'll pass them on." There was nothing more that could be said.

* * *

**Tau'ri Mining Planet – Pegasus**

In the Pegasus galaxy there were many worlds that could sustain life but were uninhabited. Many of these worlds were barren and desolate places that would provide a great challenge to anyone who might try and make a home, but some were tropical wonderlands untouched by humanity. This particular world was unarguably one of the former of the two. The planets surface was littered with mountains, jagged rock fields and small leafless shrubs, and the rest sprinkled with dark scorch coloured earth courtesy of the occasional dust storm. You could certainly survive but you wouldn't want to live there, not if you had a choice. The planet did have one redeeming feature though, a large amount of highly valued natural resources. Throughout the planets crust there were several large veins of trinium and naquadah, both highly valued for use in their ship building efforts. Another useful find was several deposits of iron, titanium and chrome for general use in their construction efforts.

With the lack of stored resources left on the _Weir_ construction materials were becoming an issue, and so steps were being taken to resolve this problem. The ship had been dispatched to the planet found in the Ancient database and had used the last of the resources stored onboard to begin mining efforts. Every last cubit of material left had been used to construct the Tau'ri' version of mining machines, a design made specifically for off-world use. Mining was notoriously known as being a very dangerous industry, and it was well known that the use of machines not only made mining more productive but safer as well. When it came to off-world operations the Tau'ri also had limited personnel at their disposal due to the need for secrecy and a limited number of specialist personnel. In an attempt to counteract this the Tau'ri designed mining machines did not require human operators, as they were the equivalent of robots. The design was a combination of the Asgard mining robots and Tau'ri continuous mining machines. The basic shape was that of a continuous mining machine with the addition of a CPU linked to sensors and a guidance system. Other additions were Asgard mining lasers and, at the end of the conveyor, a large cargo bucket equipped with beaming technology. Like their Asgard counterparts they were designed to act independently, but also receive instructions from those monitoring the mining operations and even be controlled remotely.

A large number of these machines had been produced and beamed down to the numerous deposits across the planet. From then on they proceeded to carry out their primary directives, start digging and mine for the much needed resources. The _Weir_ had only constructed the miners though, and now lacked the resources to manufacture anything else. So the ship stayed in orbit as the miners continued to dig deeper and deeper until they reached the mineral veins and started beaming up their loads to the ship. There the ores were processed and the material used to construct the buildings and additional machines the world would require to become an independent mining world. Across the planet placed in the middle of the smaller deposits of materials were several trios of small buildings linked together by an umbilical. One of these buildings consisted of the control building, which housed accommodation for the various operators and technicians and the control station for the local mining operations. The second was the automated processing building, and the third was a hanger for the numerous machines and transport vehicles. The transport vehicles were a modification of the transport shuttle design. Once again the design was modified to operate independently, or remotely, and contained dozens of cargo containers that the unprocessed resources would be beamed to. The transports would wait until they were full and then take the resources to the processing building. Once processed the materials would be transported to the main planetary mining base. This base was considerably larger than the outposts across the planet and featured dozens of control buildings, hangers and processing centres, all linked by a web of surface conduits. The base was situated in the middle of a cluster of the largest mineral veins on the planet and featured one very unique building, a specially modified gate room at the heart of the web of conduits, utilising one of the many salvaged gates from the void. This gate room was linked to all the control stations and storage hangers throughout the base and acted as the departure point for the processed resources. However the resources did not need to be transported off world, the maintenance hangers were capable of constructing additional miners and transport vehicles using the raw materials. Also, as time went on, mining operations could be expanded and larger construction hangers for star ships could be made and ship building operations could begin. The main base was already equipped with neutrino ion generators. These were partly to power the defences protecting the base, but also to provide the juice necessary to dial _Valley Forge_ and eventually send the resources back to Argus shipyards as ship construction was a hope for a later day. The main base may have been up and running by the time the _Weir_ departed but the smaller outposts were still being constructed by the resources processed at the base.

* * *

The timing for the temporary departure of the _Weir_ may have seemed inappropriate considering the situation with Todd and the threat of the Queen sister's but Echidna's mental state made it possible. To put it simply, she was very upset. The Weir would not be necessary to keep watch over the Wraith fleet for signs of treachery for two reasons. The first being that Echidna would no longer tolerate anyone stepping a foot out of line, and the second being that because of this the Wraith were terrified of her. In the days following Todd's surrender to his sisters Echidna had been personally co-ordinating massive operations. As more and more Wraith were treated they were being dispatched in fleets of ships and all with one purpose, finding the traitors. Echidna was taking no chances, not with her descendant's lives, as armadas of ships were being deployed as scouts for this purpose so that even if they were ambushed they would survive. Once the scout ships arrived at a new destination they would combine their mental might into one force and search for the others of their kind. With their combined powers of telepathy they could cover a far greater distance than they could with just their sensors and would not risk being controlled. When the Asgard arrived Echidna was actually quite pleased, as in the past few days she had been growing quite annoyed at the number of Wraith available to be sent out as scouts. The more Wraith that were untreated the more that needed to stay in stasis, and the more that needed to stay in stasis meant larger numbers of stasis pods would be needed to store the massive numbers of Wraith. This meant the fewer ships that would be available for the scouting fleets, and also that the more powerful hive ships would have to stay behind because they had the largest number of stasis pods. As a result the scout fleets would need to be larger to have a better chance of surviving. All of these problems added up and when on the mind of Echidna created a woman that no one wanted to be with in a hundred yards of for fear of being subjected to her anger. Thankfully Echidna was in such a bad mood she had taken to staying in her control chair onboard the _Arima_ and issuing orders telepathically. So when the Asgard said they could dramatically speed up the conversion process she was so pleased she actually left her chair to personally discuss the Asgard proposal.

The news she received was astounding, after only a few days study the team of Asgard geneticists had found a way to replicate the genetic alteration affects and could now implement it on a massive scale. Couple this with the ability to mass produce the cure serum and the remaining Wraith could be cured in a single day. And so it was that she found a hologram of herself being projected into the massive assembly halls on the Asgard science ships preparing to deliver to a speech to the assembled Wraith before her. Before her were the assembled hordes of the Wraith, some cured, some about to receive the cure, all gathered together from all corners of the Wraith empire for this momentous occasion. Hundreds of benches were spread about each assembly hall for those about to receive the treatment to sit on while their cured kin stood over them, waiting. When the Asgard activated the conversion beam the cured Wraith would be tasked with injecting their kin with the serum, as they would be in no fit state to do so themselves.

With a murmur from her assembled children her hologram shimmered into existence on the large stage, her size and voice amplified so she could be easily seen and heard by all present.

"My children," she seemingly bellowed. "The time of our rebirth is upon us."

A great cheer went up from the amassed Wraith, as even the drones expressed their delight as part of their treatment was the removal of the neural inhibitor that, while making a less submissive, gave them more autonomy. It was Echidna's wish that they become individuals as a reward for their loyalty and as recompense for their many years of slavery. Over time their individuality would greater express itself, although it would be easier for any new drones born. Under Echidna's rule the Wraith were becoming redefined as a species.

As the cheers died down she continued.

"Before this day is done we will have moved forwards as a species. No longer will be feared as one of the great horrors of this galaxy. No longer will the people of this galaxy dread our arrival on distant worlds. No longer will every sentient creature in this galaxy wish to see us lying dead at their feet, and our name a half forgotten memory of a time that could have passed quickly enough. For we shall rise my children, we shall step forward and take our place as protectors, as friends and as honoured allies. Before this day is done we shall be reborn!"

The masses cheered louder than before, with chants of reborn reverberating off the walls. But once again Echidna was not finished, and she raised her open palms for silence.

"But my children there is still much be done before this great day is finally upon us. There is a great debt that must be repaid to the peoples of this galaxy."

Low murmurs quietly erupted, and a single question flitted through the gathered crowds like a lightning bolt. What would she have them do?

"You are as aware as I that what has happened is in the past and that the past cannot be undone. For millennia our kind has squeezed the life from the humans and it is that debt that we must repay. We owe them our continued existence, and now we must help them ensure theirs. For those that would allow we must become their allies, and help them when it is right to do so. The Tau'ri are such a people, they could easily have destroyed us if they chose. Once we defeated the Ancients we thought ourselves supreme, that nothing could oppose us. And yet we did not consider what that war had cost us, how few of us remained, how much we had sacrificed. We won the war through sheer numbers, sending wave after wave against our enemies until the few that survived finally claimed victory. The Tau'ri saw this, they realised how weakened we were and how powerful their own forces were. But they also saw that they had a choice of what path to take, and they made their decision. They offered us a cure for our hunger, a chance to move forwards, a chance to cast off the shackles that bound us to a path that would surely lead to our destruction. And for that we must thank them, for that we must fulfil our duties as allies and so we shall. In thanks we must see too it that humanity will never again be threatened by those who would choose the old ways as a way of life. By now you all know of my two daughters who chose to kill me, and of the sacrifice my son made to save me. I swore that I would find them. I swore that I would save him and I swore that I would kill those that would set our race down a path of destruction. But this is my task, my path alone and not one I will the rest of my children join me upon. Before this day is done you will be sent out to find you kin, but once you find them the task of dealing them will fall to me and me alone. I will not see any more of my children sacrificed for sake of my own selfish desires. But if I fail then the Tau'ri will merely enact a task that they were already capable of doing, and it will be that much easier for them now. And when they find my son, and I have every confidence that they will, then he shall be the one to lead you forward. You have all heard the tales of the legendary Todd, the one who has done more for our kind than any other, our races greatest servant. But I give you this order, do not seek vengeance. If I fail then you will not seek vengeance against my daughters. I will not have you die simply for your loyalty. It is my order as Matriarch. This is my task and not that of my children. It is I who shall do this, for our race and for my children!"

Cheers erupted once again and, as the dazzling light from the genetic alteration beams spiralled down from the ceiling, chants echoed off the walls until they became one word from one voice, Echidna.

* * *

"Thypoeus, what is our status?"

"Our damaged sentinels have been repaired. The solar collectors are operating at maximum capacity and the replacement sentinel will reach full maturation soon. I am happy to report that the Asgard have been able to successfully interface their generators with the growth pod clones and the results are promising. They are currently growing on the planets surface in the western plains."

"Good, we'll need those extra sentinels if we are to take on my daughters. We still don't know just how strong their forces are."

"I should remind you though that we only have umbilicals for three sentinels. Any damage the others receive will be down to their own regeneration systems to repair, not to mention their range will be limited because of their weaker armour. We may have to leave some behind after the battle."

"We can always go back to collect them, or even just wait until they are all repaired/ Besides the fact still remains that we still need them."

"I hope you'll be accepting the Tau'ri's help when they offer it."

"If they offer it."

"Think that if you will, but we should still accept. It's still their fight after all."

"I know it is. How can I forget? But I owe it to them to finish it myself."

* * *

**Unknown System – Unknown Planet**

In a system seemingly void of life, a place where the Wraith would never come, the Asgard were continueing their search for their kin, the Vanir. The system was small and it's planets few, a pair of gas giants, four volcanic infernos, a frozen wasteland, while the third world was a barren wasteland coated with a toxic atmosphere. Needless to say all of them were incapable of sustaining natural life. But it was the information that their world was hazardous to life that the Vanir had parted to the Tau'ri during their brief encounter, which made this system a potential candidate. One of many candidates plucked from the planetary records stored in the Ancient database that would have still been suitable over ten thousand years ago, and were still suitable to this very day. So now Thor's personal science ship the _Daniel Jackson_ was performing the same task it had performed in so many systems, just as the other science ships were, scanning the system for traces of civilisation. For days now the Asgard science vessels had been searching, utilising their incredible engines to dart from system to system in such a short period of time it should surely be impossible. And now, at last, it seemed they had found what they were looking for.

On the third planet from the glowing red giant the science ships powerful sensors had detected signs of the presence of artificial structures. Where there should be toxic gases that would strip flesh from bone in seconds, and even the strongest alloys over extended periods of time, there was just an empty void. To less powerful sensors, like those aboard most Wraith ships, the planet would register as vacant, but to those equipped to the Daniel Jackson the cluster of voids of varying sizes on the planets surface were very noticeable. Locking on to the voids, the passive scans magnified in strength, going to full active, until they cut through the detection barriers that would fool those of a lesser strength. As readings were analysed it quickly became clear that the structures and the buildings within them followed a distinctly Asgard design in nature, while further analysis resulted in confirmation of the presence of Asgard clone body life readings. The Vanir and their hiding place had been found. The response was immediate.

"Attention Asgard science contingent who identify themselves as the Vanir," he hailed. "This is Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard Fleet, acting on behalf of the Asgard High council. I am here to take you into custody in and to take you before the Asgard High Council where you will stand trial for your actions."

"I am Frey," was the reply as the image of a clone bodied Asgard appeared on the view screen. "I am the leader of the Vanir and so it falls to me to warn you that any hostile actions taken against us will result in immediate retaliation."

"Hello Frey it has been a while," replied Thor conversationally.

"Indeed it has Thor, and judging by your appearance it seems that much has changed."

Over the visual link the stark contrast between the two members of the supposedly same species was quite apparent, and more than a little surprising.

"Much has changed for our people Frey and under different circumstances I would be happy to tell you about them, as well as how well your sister is. Unfortunately the actions of the Vanir have forced my hand in this matter," was the stern reply.

"It is good to hear that my sister is doing so well but I must ask. To what actions do you refer?" said Frey in a deceptively innocent voice.

"It has become known that in the pursuit of solving your cloning issue that the Vanir have experimented on humans, that alone warrants your immediate arrest."

"I can assure you that the Vanir are guilty of no crime and I must ask you to vacate our system at once or responsive action will be exercised."

The threat delivered without so much as a twitch from a face showing no emotion was enough to give Thor reason to pause.

"Our sensors have fully scanned your habitat on the planet and have detected no weapons," said Thor with a raised hair less brow. "You cannot stop us from taking you into custody."

"Then you will not choose a different course of action?"

"I will not," said Thor, with eyes of steel.

"Then we will have to respond," said Frey as the connection was severed.

"Commander, vessels de-cloaking directly ahead!" exclaimed a startled crewman.

"Raise shields!" shouted Thor.

Between the Asgard science ship and the Vanir world four unfamiliar vessels shimmered into existence. The Asgard manning sensor stations would first note the ships interesting shape, the curving slanted hull plating so similar to that of an Aurora or the Tau'ri Pegasus class. With two jutting sections near towards the prow of the ship and a large, smooth, box like structure making up much of the lower part of the ship. Next taken into account would be the size of these vessels, 300 metres long, 100 metres wide and 225 metres tall. But what quickly stole their attention were the two large emitters on the front of the ship that were already powered and locked on their target, the _Daniel Jackson_. Alternating their fire, two lances of bright yellow energy burst from the twin emitters of each of the ships and hit the just raised shields of the Asgard science ship, causing the shield to flare white as it took the impact.

The bridge of the science vessel shook from the impact, and the bridge crew fought to stay upright as the ship surged forward in a bid to avoid more hits. In response to the hostile action several small pale ion bolts from the science vessels limited weapons struck the enemy ships in return.

"Status report!" yelled Thor.

"Enemy weapons equivalent to a Tau'ri designated APB. Shields are at 60%. 50%," tactical added, as another twin impact rocked the ship. "Enemy shields comparable to Upgraded Ha'tak, limited damage. Recommend immediate withdrawal."

As the science ship soared between the rapidly banking enemy vessels the sensors were able to get a partial scan of the enemy and the results were startling.

"Sir, sensors indicate enemy vessels manned by human crews, minor Vanir presence onboard."

"What?" Thor wondered allowed, before shaking his head as he processed the information. "Helm, take us into hyperspace then set a course for the New Lantea system."

"Yes sir."

The Asgard science vessel, in an impressive display of manoeuvring, swung upwards and surged forwards, momentarily surprising the enemy. As the enemy shots went wide the Asgard vessel tore open a hyperspace window and dived into it, fleeing from the system and the mysterious humans who aided the Vanir.


	16. Strange truths

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

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**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Well here it is my friend, and i can assure i am big fan of the Asgard as well. I never did like the fact they got wiped out when ordinary people have come up with such inventive solutions to save them. In this story they are here for keeps.**

**If I Stay: Thank you for pointing that out, i really hadn't intended it to be read like that so i have corrected the phrasing. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**stark40763: You guessed right. A mysterious group, can't have that, lets try and find out who they are.**

**Jedi Carpet: Glad you're enjoying it.**

* * *

While things were progressing in other parts of the galaxy events were coming to a close in others. The last of the Genii had finally been picked clean off of Kolumnar and the natives were nearly finished cleaning up after them. Mass executions were not something that would be easily tolerated so Ladon was forced to come to a compromise, those that had followed Nadier would be exiled to a planet with the stargate later removed and replaced with a space gate. Nadier himself however would be kept imprisoned for life for his crimes against the people of Kolumnar in a Genii holding facility, never to be seen again. Of course they only had Ladon's guarantee that he would be kept alive, although the people of Kolumnar never raised any objections to this. As concessions for the actions of the traitors Ladon had opted to leave behind all of the equipment that Nadier had moved into the city. From Ladon's point of view there wasn't much of a loss as Nadier had been secretly stock piling the equipment for years. The people of Kolumnar were very grateful for the large amount of weapons and equipment they were left with and, for the promise of future trade agreements with the Genii, the Genii were providing training in its use.

On a distant world a new Tau'ri facility was being filled with people coming in from the Milky Way, bringing the base up to operating capacity. So after finishing placing the foundations for their first Pegasus mining world the _Weir_ had finally made its way back to Atlantis, and to a very interesting sight. For the first time in weeks the system wasn't filled with all manner of Wraith ships, the last Wraith had long since received the treatment and had begun their new mission. The hundreds of new farms that had been started were already being tended to by the first Wraith that had been cured. Now the rest were manning every ship available to them and had split the remaining ships in system into several sizeable fleets, fleets which had since spread out to the very same culled systems that the _Arima_ had scanned not so long ago. It would take time to reach the system, time to search great expanses of space using their telepathy and, if they failed to find what they were looking for, time to move on to other nearby systems and begin the search again. It would take time but through sheer determination they would find the rogue daughters that had defied their Matriarch. They would not stop, they would not tire and thanks to the huge amount of synthesised supplies given to them by the Asgard they wouldn't even need to stop to resupply for a long time to come. The only Wraith ship left behind was the _Arima_ with her escorting sentinels.

The rest of the Wraith ships had been replaced by a lone Traveller ship floating alongside the lone Asgard warship the _O'Neill_. Over the past hour though they had been joined by the three Asgard science ships that Thor had ordered be recalled, the Asgard had revealed that he had found the Vanir system but hadn't divulged what had taken place. All he had told the Tau'ri was that he urgently wanted to speak to their leaders when he rejoined the rest of his fleet. For now all they could do was wait until Thor returned, and in the mean time keep an eye on the diplomats who were trying to hammer out the alliance agreement between the Travellers, Wraith and the Tau'ri.

As with all negotiations they were progressing slowly, but so far though they had managed to hammer out a non-aggression pact and the bare bones of a mutual defence pact. What was causing problems was a mutual aggression pact, as is always the case with sides of varying strengths there were disagreements and the arguments were becoming legendary. Echidna was willing to help her allies but was very much against pursuing acts of active aggression when it would risk her children's lives, Wraith ships could be quite vulnerable with only biological armour to protect them. Not to mention the fact that they were in no fit state to wage war against anyone at the moment. In a year perhaps when they had better established their food supplies they would be in a better state. Arguably the Travellers would need this time as well to establish their own colonies. But the problem still remained that any threat would have to be dealt, for now though the discussion was being shelved. And of course none of them wished to discuss the matter of the rogue Wraith at this stage. Echidna may have been in a more improved mood since her children left tracking but she still wasn't willing to risk more lives. It was hoped that the Tau'ri could offer their help in time as their ships were the least vulnerable and the most capable of facing down a Wraith fleet, but for now they were keeping quiet. The one thing they were doing was assisting Echidna's fleet expansion plans, with some help from the Asgard.

Wraith ship technology was highly unique in several galaxies for its reproductive capabilities. Wraith darts were grown in the hangers that held them, while cruisers were grown in maturation chambers aboard hives that also served to speed their repair. But hive ships, and even the _Arima_, required the sacrifice of a humanoids life in order to grow. During the war the Wraith had found ways to overcome this problem when they were able to steal several ZPM's to power their one of a kind cloning facility. Armies of clones of drones were produced and not all of which served as troops to fight on the front lines. Some were injected with the pathogen that had reverse engineered, to a degree, from the original used to produce the _Arima_. With so many soldiers to spare the Wraith were able to develop large fleets of ships, most of which were lost in the war, and were able to bring down a great tide down upon the Wraith. The Ancients had fought hard, and the stolen ZPM's were quickly depleted as more and more soldiers were produced but it was already far too late as the Ancients had been pushed back to the point where the Wraiths natural ability to produce reinforcements was enough to hold them at bay.

However Echidna had no wish to produce more hive ships to take on her daughters, as hive ships would require crews and that would mean putting her children in danger. So instead she had requested that they help her by cloning the growth pods used aboard the _Arima_ to grow sentinels from. A dozen of these pods had been cloned by the Asgard and placed on the surface of New Lantea. All it had taken was a little creative engineering for power generators to be connected to the pods, which was incredibly easier than connecting a ZPM and the growth process had begun. The growth pods idea was actually a project that Todd had been working on before he had been captured and with Tau'ri and Asgard assistance had been completed. The new sentinels were growing well, and very quickly too. One advantage that Wraith technology had was that if they focused the energy into one aspect then the capabilities were very impressive, with an obvious example being the ZPM powered hive ship. Soon Echidna would have her hunting fleet, and eventually her children would report the location of her prey.

* * *

As part of ensuring better relations between the Asgard and the Tau'ri, Asgard crewmen had been posted to the Tau'ri battle cruisers to provide technical support. This meant that the _Daedalus_ gained Hermiod back and the _Apollo_ were gifted with a well known Asgard of their own, the scientist Loki. After he was found guilty of illegally cloning O'Neill he had been forced into a low position amongst the Asgard science echelon. However with the genetic degradation problem becoming more and more of a problem it was all hands on deck. Despite his earlier actions Loki had proven to be a dedicated worker and had worked hard to help solve the problem and had later worked on the android body solution. As it stood he was now being given a probationary role that could well determine his future, he was essentially being tested. If he failed to perform admirably at his current posting then he would remain in his low ranking for many years to come. The Asgard high council would not be lenient if he caused an incident that resulted in tension between them and the Tau'ri. Thankfully Colonel Ellis ran a tight military ship, and was determined to keep his crew in line. Unfortunately some of the civilian members of the crew were not as professional and were prone to conflict. One of which just happened to be a member of the _Apollo_'s engineering crew, a scientist known as Peter Kavanagh. Kavanagh was known for making large amounts of complaints about those he was working with, and he usually complained to the highest authority he could find. He wasn't stupid enough to actually complain to an Asgard official about an Asgard representative so it meant Woolsey got the call.

"I'm rather busy Doctor Kavanagh," said a disgruntled Woolsey, having been sat in negotiations for several hours now. "What do you want?"

"I wish to lodge a complaint about the Asgard crew member assigned to this ship," he said while waving an empty energy drink can around. "He is completely incapable of operating in a working environment and is completely ignorant of the proper command structure."

The Asgard in question was actually standing right behind him as he continued to rant and turned to glare at the scientists back.

"I have a lot to do Doctor," Woolsey sighed. "So if you could please be a little more specific I would appreciate it. What is your complaint this time?"

"He is incapable of following my instructions as I give them. I am a senior member of this crew and should be afforded the proper respect that I deserve."

Before the rant could go any further, or even before Woolsey could get a word in edge wise, Loki had walked over and plucked the drinks can from Kavanagh's hand, gripping the ends tightly with both his thumb and middle finger.

"I would like to remind you Doctor Kavanagh," said Loki capturing Kavanagh's gaze with a steel look. "That during my time I was officially in charge of many capable scientists. During that time I had their respect, because I earned it, and now I may be required to serve on this ship but I do so gladly because my people owe yours a great debt."

"However," he continued. "I do not have to listen you whine to those who have the misfortune of having to listen to you. However, since you are clearly too cowardly to complain to my superiors so I would suggest a compromise."

"If you have a complaint then address it to me and me alone," he finished as he used his robotic strength to crush the can between his fingers with a shocking ease.

That single act was clearly too terrifying for Kavanagh as he fainted right there and then.

Loki turned to back to face Woolsey.

"I apologise for any inconvenience this incident may have caused you Mr Woolsey," he said, remembering the words of the High Council. "I hope that this does not result in any tension between our people."

"Do not worry Loki. I for one think you handled this incident rather diplomatically," said Woolsey with a small smile.

"Thank you. I must return to my work now and I will not keep you from yours."

* * *

It didn't take long for Thor to finally make it back to the New Lantea system and the question on everyone's lips was what had happened. Everyone knew that the Vanir had been found but no one knew just what had happened in the system to make Thor request an immediate meeting once he arrived on _Atlantis_. When he did beam down to the control room he seemed agitated to say the least, and he didn't say a word to anyone, he just went to the empty conference room and waited for the others to arrive. Colonel Sheppard, Administrator Woolsey and Doctor McKay arrived shortly, after having received an anxious advisement that Supreme Commander Thor was waiting in the conference room.

"Welcome back Supreme Commander," said Woolsey. "I understand you were able to find the Vanir."

"Indeed," said Thor in a neutral tone, before irritation slipped in. "However when we arrived and tried to take them into custody they protested their innocence."

Sheppard snorted. "Not a very original response. But I thought you would have taken them into custody anyway."

We tried, however it turned out they had allies ready to aid them."

"Who would ally themselves with the Vanir?" asked McKay, the memory of his encounter with them still quite fresh.

"We do not know, but from what our sensors were able to determine they are human."

Everyone was silent for a moment as they stopped to process this. The Vanir had claimed to experiment on humans in an attempt to solve their genetic degradation problem. So why would humans then ally with them?

"Well this just keeps getting better," said Sheppard. "How much of a threat are they?"

"They possess ships similar in size to a vessel utilised by those you call the Travellers and boast considerable offensive weaponry," said Thor. "However I believe that you battle cruisers would easily be superior in combat, as their defensive technology is somewhat lacking. I have sent a tactical report to the _Weir_ and to _Atlantis_ for you all to look at, and encryption locked it so only you may view it."

"I'm guessing you'll be going back there again with the _O'Neill_?" enquired Sheppard.

"Yes and I take it you would like to come as well?"

Sheppard grinned. "Hey it's a chance to meet some new people and help our allies. Also at this point it might help to have a slightly more neutral party involved since they have already taken exception to you. Besides it wouldn't hurt to hear them out and they might actually want to talk to us if they think we're keeping you at bay."

Thor smirked. "I believe your people call this the good cop bad cop routine."

Sheppard smirked back. "That would be the one."

"Well then," said Woolsey. "I'll let you go deal with this problem and when I hear from you again we'll hopefully have some new allies to negotiate with."

* * *

**Vanir Homeworld**

A few hours had passed since the Asgard science vessel had made its brief visit and there wasn't much sign that anything had changed as a result of their presence. Last time the Asgard had been forced to quickly flee the system or risk destruction, the weapons and defences of the science ship being unable to match the might of the mysterious humans that had aided the Vanir. The encounter had left many questions unanswered, the most prominent of which being why would anyone who could be their potential experiment subject ally with them? But with the arrival of the _O'Neill_, which boasted considerably more firepower, in the system it was hoped that those questions might soon be answered.

Exiting hyperspace in orbit of the planet, the Asgard warship quickly went to full alert, ever wary of aggressors. They had been caught by surprise before, but this time they would not be caught so unaware. Shields were raised, ion cannons charged and sensors were constantly sweeping the system searching for any signs of the forces lying in wait. From the command chair on the warships bridge Thor hailed the Vanir settlement below as well as sending out a general hail to any ships that might be in the area.

"Attention Vanir settlement and Vanir allied ships in the vicinity, this is Supreme Commander Thor. I hereby request that you immediately surrender so that no further conflict will occur between us. The science ship you encountered before was not designed for combat purposes, however the warship you see before you was and I will not hesitate to you engage you if it is deemed necessary to accomplish my mission."

"This is Frey of the Vanir," came the reply. "I say again that the Vanir are guilty of no crimes. I ask that you leave us and our allies alone."

"It is your allies who have faced us in battle thus far Frey," retorted Thor. "If you insist on hiding behind them then I think I should be speaking to them if you refuse to co-operate. I think they would be very interested to know that you have experimented on humans for the sake of your survival."

"Our allies know our true history Thor," countered Frey. "And they value their anonymity a great deal, which is why they are not talking to you. However they also value their allies, which is why they are willing to protect us from you."

"The Asgard also value our allies Frey, which is why we will see to it that you answer to the charges being brought to you. If it is proven that the Vanir have experimented on innocent humans then you will be brought to justice."

"Neither the Vanir nor our allies wish for conflict with you Thor, we wish to be left alone. However we will defend ourselves if necessary."

"Then you should prepare to defend yourselves because one way or another we will take you into custody."

In response to those words a dozen ships de-cloaked and revealed themselves, placing themselves between the _O'Neill_ and the planet. All of them were identical to the four vessels that had attacked the _Daniel Jackson_ several hours ago, and like before all of them immediately raised their shields and powered their weapons. The threat from both sides was obvious and the only thing stopping them from firing was that both sides were waiting to see what the other would do. The tension hung thick as both sides watched and waited, waiting for the first move to be made in a game that could result in the destruction of either side. Most likely both sides were wondering the same things. Were the enemy alone? Did they have reinforcements lying in wait, ready to strike at a moments notice? Are our own forces enough? Can we win? What's going to happen next?

Whatever the Vanir thought would happen next they probably never expected what actually did. What did happen was the _Weir_ de-cloaked right in the middle of the two fleets, showing both her flank. To an outside observer the _Weir_, with her shields raised and weapons unpowered, seemed to be opposing neither side but was instead trying to step in to stop a fight before one started.

Sheppard's image joined the others on screen.

"This is Colonel John Sheppard, Commander of the Weir. Now why don't we all just sit back and talk this out."

"And who are you exactly?" enquired Frey.

"Some friends of the Asgard and the humans of this galaxy, and we would very much like to see you all get along."

"And what business is this of yours?"

"Well for one we were told first hand by some of your people how the Vanir have experimented on humans, and although we've been told this is an Asgard affair we would like to get to the bottom of this, preferably peacefully. Now personally I hope you're innocent and this has all been blown out of proportion because civil war is not fun, no matter how short it may turn out to be. So how about we sit down and talk about all this. Oh and I'm not just asking you Frey I'm also asking the humans manning those ships."

"One moment," said Frey before the transmission winked out.

For a full five minutes the coms were silent except for the hint of chatter between the Vanir settlement and the mystery fleet. Then the response came through.

"We agree to talks between our peoples," said Frey. "The Vanir and the Averians would like to formally request that you attend talks in the Vanir city. We will send you the co-ordinates shortly."

* * *

"Well nice to see we've stalled civil war for a little while," said McKay.

Sheppard, McKay, carrying his tablet, and Thor had beamed down to the planets surface for initial talks. All three of them were feeling a little out of their depth on this one, having not even heard a whisper about these people, and would have liked if Teyla or Ronon could have come along. Unfortunately both were off world helping the Athosians and the Wraith establish proper trade relations as well as sizeable farms. It was certainly interesting how peoples job requirements change over time. Of course if things got interesting for these three they could always bring in their resident court room champion. Woolsey was certainly much more used to hammering out agreements and negotiating and had the authority to do so. You had to feel sorry for the guy though seeing as he was currently in the middle of some taxing negotiations with the Wraith and the Travellers. Still if all went well today they would have two new groups to add to the alliance.

"I want you to know that I greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter," said Thor.

"Hey don't mention it Thor we want to see this matter cleared up just as much as you do," said Sheppard encouragingly. "Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this quickly."

"I hope so," said Thor.

The three of them walked down the clearly Asgard designed corridor until they came to a large room featuring a circular conference table, easily big enough to seat a dozen people, with raised seats. Already present, and seated next to each other, were a human and a Vanir. The human was easily over forty, with lines of grey creeping into to his dark but silvering hair, and wore a black military looking uniform. The Vanir had a clone body the Asgard used to feature with the exception of two cybernetic implants, one above the right eye and the other on the left side of its chest. Standing behind them against the wall was another human, in a similar military uniform with a weapon holstered on his hip, and what was presumably a Vanir wearing an armoured exoskeleton. Clearly the seated two were in charge and the ones behind them were acting as their bodyguards for these talks. The trio quickly took their seats, with McKay and Thor sitting either side of Sheppard.

"Hi," said Sheppard. "I'm Colonel John Sheppard, this is Doctor Rodney McKay and we represent the Tau'ri or Lanteans as some would call us, and of course this is Supreme Commander Thor representing the Asgard."

"Greetings," said the human in a deep voice. "I am Admiral Caius Durra of the people of Averia. I believe you are familiar with Frey, leader of the Vanir."

"Averia," said Thor, intrigued. "Is that name derived from the Ancient language?"

Durra nodded. "Yes, the name comes from the ancestral word meaning…"

"…Ark," finished Thor. "So you are the people of the Ark, most intriguing."

"And can I take the name Lantean to mean that you come from the legendary ancestral city of _Atlantis_?" asked Durra.

Sheppard grinned. "We have a base there and a shared ancestry, in some cases, but we're not the Ancients."

"Interesting," Durra shot back.

Sheppard smirked. He was beginning to like the Admiral, he had a sense of humour.

McKay coughed. "While I very much look forward to finding out about your people, for now can we get the whole who attacked whom business sorted out?"

Durra raised an eyebrow, his expression once again serious. "And who do you believe attacked who Doctor?"

McKay pointed an accusing finger at the Vanir guard, "Several Vanir wearing those suits attacked Atlantis and took myself and one of my colleague's prisoner."

"The Vanir have no ships available to them and we do not use our stargate in order to avoid detection, so how could we have attacked you?" asked Frey innocently.

But Thor, having interacted with beings housed in similar clone bodies for a long time now, noticed the tell tale signs that something was on Frey's mind. Even Admiral Durra seemed to thinking something in response to his words. While Thor had been observing the two Rodney had been tapping away at his tablet until he brought up an image of the Vanir ship that had attacked Atlantis so many months ago.

"This," he said revealing the image on the tablet. "Was the ship used in the attack."

Frey winced almost unnoticeably at the sight of the ship while Durra turned to look at the Vanir with suspicion.

"We also took on another two just like that one," added Sheppard. "We destroyed them and damaged a third but it fled into hyperspace."

"What were they doing?" asked Frey, who looked quite downtrodden at the moment.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt they quickly recapped how the Vanir had activated the Attero device in a bid to destroy the Wraith, how they had tracked them down, learned about their history and eventually destroyed the device. They left out a few details such as the Wraith involvement and the Travellers. The Wraith part would lead to a long explanation and would require a current status update which would take too long and the Travellers reserved their right to privacy.

"Personally I would like to know where you got the ships from, they aren't based on our designs," said Thor.

"The answer to that is simple," said Durra. "We gave them to the Vanir as a gift as part of our alliance. They were old ships based externally on a design of the ancestors and we rarely used them anymore even for transport purposes. Although I'm sure my superiors would very much like to know why they were allowed to be used in hostile actions against a neutral party," he added accusingly.

Frey sighed. "I can assure you I was not aware of the actions my father took."

"Your father?" asked Sheppard.

"Njord," answered Thor. "A great warrior in his day, and a fond believer of doing whatever was necessary to protect his people."

"When the Averians gifted us with the ships it was becoming clear we would eventually have to leave our home here," said Frey. "My father had served the Vanir people for many years but he was a warrior at heart and administration was never something he was fond of. One of the reasons I took on the mantle of leading our people was so he could do what he wanted. But he continued to serve as our military advisor for many years. He offered to take the ships and a few of his loyal followers and search for a new home for our people. I can only assume that using some records from when the Ancients were still around that he was led to the Attero device."

"What happened to him?" asked Thor.

"He died," Frey simply stated.

When it became clear he didn't want to say anymore Durra continued for him.

"The ship he was on eventually made it back to this system, which at the time was already under our protection. It seemed that the battle must have caused some significant damage to his power core. I can only assume some of the excess energy damaged the generator when his shields were weakened as he made the transition to hyperspace. When he finally opened a window and re-entered real space his reactor went critical and the ship exploded. The last transmission we detected was, 'Tell my son I did what I had to for our people.'"

Everyone took a moment to consider this. It meant that the Vanir as a people were innocent of the attack and those responsible were long since dead. The Travellers would certainly be pleased at having destroyed all of those responsible for the destruction of their colony and the death of over 3000 people. But one question still remained unanswered.

"What about Njord's claims that you have experimented on live humans?" enquired Thor.

"Oh that's certainly true," said Durra with a small smile as if he alone knew the joke. "It was my people they experimented on."


	17. Startling Truths

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: I thought that a little humour was due and i am very glad you enjoy reading this so much. I thank you for all your help with future planning and hope you enjoy this new chapter. It may not be as much of a thrill ride as some of my previous ones but its necessary to lead to some very interesting events.**

**Shadow of Realm: What is coming next? Plenty. I have plans and i thank the kind folk who helped me make some of them possible, you know who you are and will be credited accordingly.**

**stark40763: You are absolutely right it is strange, and you're not the only one who thinks so.**

* * *

The silence lasted for several minutes and for all that time the trio's faces were a mixture of surprise, confusion and what did he say? Eventually McKay asked the question.

"They experimented on you?"

"Not me personally although I did donate a small genetic sample for research purposes," Durra replied calmly.

"They wanted to experiment on you and you let them?" he asked disbelievingly.

"They did," said Frey, just as calm.

"I can't believe this," he muttered in a wilting voice.

"Is there a problem?" asked Durra.

"Well look at this way," said Sheppard, equally surprised. "What would you say if you thought we let the Asgard screw around with our genetics?"

Durra and Frey exchanged glances.

"I think there is some confusion here," said Durra hesitantly.

"You think?" McKay muttered sarcastically.

John shot Rodney a glare. "Why don't you walk us through it?"

"I think that would be best," added Thor.

Durra glanced at Frey.

"Do you want to explain or should I?" he asked

"I'll let you start," replied Frey.

"Very well. When we first met the Vanir they were still struggling to find a solution for their genetic degradation problem. For years they had been secretly gathering genetic samples from humans, looking for a potential cure to their problem. On some occasions they would clone an individual but very rarely. When they met us they offered us a deal, they would provide assistance to our scientists and share some technology in exchange for genetic samples of large numbers of our people. Some of which were cloned from those samples but without a consciousness."

"So no humans were actually experimented on?" asked Thor.

Durra hesitated before answering.

"One individual could be deemed as being experimented on," said Frey.

When no further information was offered he decided to press for details.

"How exactly?" asked Thor.

"I can assure you we had the best intentions when we performed the procedures," began Frey.

"Procedures?" cut in Thor.

Frey looked hesitant so he turned to Durra for support.

"How much can I tell them?" he asked.

"You need his permission?" asked McKay bewildered.

"Yes," Frey replied curtly. "The patient has rights to confidentiality."

"Patient?" asked Sheppard.

They couldn't wait to hear this one. Thankfully Durra decided to chuck Frey a bone before he started feeling more harassed.

"You can reveal the details of the procedures as we'll have to show them the records anyway to prove there was no crime committed, just don't reveal the name. His face was kept out of the records for his own sake."

"Don't worry my friend. Your people did a fine job and none are more grateful than he is," he added encouragingly.

"You can't reveal the name?" asked McKay. "Don't tell me, doctor patient confidentiality right?"

"Sort of," replied Durra. "But mostly because he went through hell and it's not something he likes to talk about. That and he doesn't want people to look at him differently because of it."

"Before this individual we had only performed minor operations on clones," began Frey. "Mostly these involved replacing organs with those that had experienced the same genetic degradation as is present in our own species to see if certain strands of DNA would be more resilient. Other experiments had involved replacing organs and other parts of the body with those that had been grown in a lab in an attempt to completely to wipe the slate clean as it were. This case however was not so simple."

"The individual in question was involved in an accident during an experimental weapons test," continued Durra. "The details are still a little unclear but we believe that the weapon experienced an overload and the fuel cell ruptured. His limbs and his chest were splattered by the fuel and when the weapon exploded the fuel was ignited."

The trio winced and even Frey and Durra looked a little peaky at the anecdote. It wasn't hard to work out what had happened next but nevertheless Durra continued.

"The fuel was quickly set alight and burned with such intensity that it had burned right through to the bone by the time we got the fire out. His limbs were…well lets just say they had most of the tissue missing…you'll see what I mean when you look at the images but I recommend not eating beforehand. Luckily most of the fuel on his chest was confined to the upper chest and the protective gear he was wearing provided some resistance otherwise it would have gone right through his organs. The organs received some damage but the external tissue was almost completely destroyed and his skeleton had been weakened."

"Our medical staff were on standby during the test and were able to put him in stasis quickly enough to keep him alive," resumed Frey. "As Admiral Durra said the damage was extensive. Aside from his internal organs, there was little of his own tissue left undamaged from the neck down. While we kept him in stasis we could keep him alive but short of cloning the subject there was little we could do to have him walking around again. Part of our alliance with the Averians stated that we would never clone one of their people for the sake of extending their life. This clause was added because we lack the resources to clone large numbers and neither party wanted favouritism to decide who gets to live longer. In our case cloning was a means of survival of our species but the Averians were not in such a desperate situation. We were left with three options; keep him in stasis, let him die or attempt a risky procedure that could save his life and further our own research at the same time. We revived him and gave him the choice, luckily he had suffered such significant nerve damage that he could barely feel pain anymore, and he chose to try the experiment knowing that it would take a long time and much pain on his part. Our first step was to strip away any damaged tissue that we could while the organs were given time to heal. His entire skeletal structure had been greatly weakened and was very fragile so we also lined his bones with plates to support them. At the same time we took samples of skin tissue which we were able to artificially grow over a long period of time. However the skin tissue was in preparation for a later stage, first we had to replace the tissue that had been destroyed which was no easy feat. Eventually however our scientists were able to compose a synthetic fibre that would serve as a suitable substitute. Veins, arteries and capillaries were replaced with lab grown samples although, as I am sure you can imagine, this was little more than patch work as they would no longer be necessary for the limbs. An artificial nervous system was incorporated into the subjects existing nervous system and attached to the skin so that he could still feel through his arms and legs. Once the skin was placed over the artificial tissue we constructed over much of his body he was practically identical to the way he was before. A few weeks of intensive therapy and he was using the new limbs with ease."

"He was extremely grateful when they were able to re-grow his reproductive organs," said a chuckling Durra. "He was actually quoted as having said those we the bits he missed the most."

The humans all laughed at this and even the Asgard and Vanir cracked a smile.

"So he's the only one?" enquired McKay.

Durra nodded.

"The only Averian, unless some of the Vanir have opted for the procedure?" he said, looking at Frey questioningly.

"No," he replied shaking his head. "The purpose of the procedure was to restore extreme levels of damage without compromising the patient's genome. Since no Vanir has received any significant injuries in a long period of time we have not had to apply the technique to ourselves. However I suspect all our research will now be defunct if our brothers decide to share their own research with us."

The question was unasked but Thor still answered.

"I wouldn't be so sure," he countered. "All your research will prove to be invaluable."

If Frey had an eyebrow he would have raised it.

"How so?" he asked curiously. "Your current form bears similarity to our species ancestral form. Surely that means you have made great strides in correcting any genetic degradation you may have suffered from in the past."

Thor shook his head.

"No I'm afraid not. This form is not organic, but an android body which holds my consciousness. Our own research into curing our genetic degradation was a failure. Eventually it progressed to the point where our clone bodies were no longer capable of holding our consciousness for an extended period of time."

"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Frey sympathetically.

"Do not concern yourself it is not as bad as it seems," replied Thor encouragingly. "In these forms we will have an eternity to solve the problem. It many take many years but eventually we will find the solution."

"Will you share your research with us?" asked Frey hopefully.

"You are our kin," replied Thor as an answer.

"What if we wished to remain independent as a people?"

Thor frowned.

"That could provide some difficulty."

Frey sighed.

"I thought as much."

But Thor brightened as an idea struck him.

"The high council may not be willing to simply give away our research. However they should agree to an exchange. In exchange for our own genetic research as well as the android body research you can give us your genetic research as well as the data from rebuilding a human body from scratch."

"And what of the future?"

"Independence will be allowed, we cannot ask you to give that up when you were essentially abandoned. However if you are guilty as a people or suspected to be of crimes then actions will be taken as they were today."

Frey nodded.

"I understand, and thank you."

"In regards to future projects that may arise from the exchange I would personally recommend full collaboration on all projects. We cannot afford to simply go our separate ways, not with our people's futures at stake."

"Will the high council agree to such a thing?"

"I think with my support it will be possible, and if the Tau'ri also supports this action then it has a great chance of success," he added.

"Will you support an alliance?" Frey asked the two humans.

The two humans nodded in reply.

"Of course we would like something in return," added John.

"What do you want?" questioned Durra.

"If the data checks out then an alliance between our peoples," replied Sheppard.

"The Asgard high council will most likely request a similar alliance," added Thor. "Such an alliance would serve to solidify your claim as an independent people."

"Would you like to form an alliance with our people as well?" asked Durra.

"Yes," Sheppard, Thor and McKay replied together.

"Then I think we should get you a copy of that data to peruse," said Durra.

"Indeed," added Frey. "The files are available to view from any terminal. I will provide you with full access to all data records."

* * *

Hours later and the three had finally finished looking at the data files regarding all Vanir experimentation. While Rodney and Thor had been delving deeper and deeper in the archives looking for evidence of tampering or hidden files John had been watching the video records, all of which had been about the legendary patient the Vanir had fixed. From a scientific point of view the multiple procedures performed had been fascinating, a display of highly advanced technology and creative genius coming together to perform a medical miracle. From the human perspective it was absolutely shocking to see, words cannot accurately describe the state the unfortunate man was in and the agonising pain he must have been in. It tore at the soul just to know the man was fighting to cling on to life, to watch as he struggled to get his new limbs to obey his command. And yet you marvelled at the way he never gave up, how he forced the messages from his brain to travel along with the electronic nervous system and the artificial muscles to submit to his will. You would even be tempted to join the people on the final video and celebrate as the man displayed the ability to run, jump and even perform a series of forward handsprings.

"Words cannot describe," said Sheppard with a grimace as he finished watching the final video.

Rodney and Thor, who had been taking periodic glances at Sheppard's monitor, nodded their heads in agreement.

"It's no small miracle that he even survived long enough to be put into stasis," said Rodney.

"He was lucky," said Thor. "And it took an impressive amount of work on both his part and the Vanir for his recovery to be made possible."

"So what have you guys found?" Sheppard asked.

"There is a vast amount of data present but what I can tell there claims appear to be true," said Thor. "A large number of genetic samples are being stored but any human clones are being kept in stasis. All readings indicate that the clones have no consciousness and records of past data readings show no evidence of any clones having so much of an active brain wave."

"I've looked for any signs of data tampering," said Rodney. "From what I can tell the records have not been altered and there are no indications that any have been deleted or removed from the system."

"So they're legit?" asked Sheppard.

"It would appear so. Although I suspect the high council will request that a number of our scientists check the data before an alliance is signed between our peoples," said Thor.

"So it looks good, but it all comes down to the final confirmation," summarised Sheppard.

"Seems like it," said McKay. "Still at least we know the Averian's seem to be on the level."

"Yeah," said Sheppard. "It was just like we were told, they asked the mans permission before turning him cyborg and even offered him the alternatives."

"Just think how many people back on Earth that kind of technology could help," said McKay. "All of those amputees that could be walking around again."

"Unfortunately it is not that simple Doctor," said Thor. "The procedure alone nearly resulted in the loss of his life, not to mention the difficulty his system faced adapting to it. Until the technology is refined then I would not recommend it being used on a living subject. The Vanir got lucky in what was an experiment to begin with."

"Bet your people would be interested in continuing the experiment though Thor," said Sheppard with a grin.

"Indeed," agreed Thor. "The melding of organic and technology could very well prove to be the solution for our genetic degradation problem."

"So lets bottom line this," said McKay. "You need to talk to the high council and get their approval and we need to talk to our bosses and see about arranging a visit to the Averian's for talks."

"Indeed," agreed Thor.

"All right lets get to it," said Thor.

* * *

"Have you come to a conclusion," asked Durra.

"We have," said Thor. "Having looked at the archives we have been unable to find any discrepancies with the story you told us. The high council will most likely check that a team of our scientists check the information for signs of tampering however it is my belief at this time that the Vanir are not guilty of any crime against the peoples of this galaxy."

"Thank you," said Frey.

"While Thor talks to the high council we would like to discuss an alliance between the Averian's and the Tau'ri," said Sheppard.

"I am not authorised to discuss such matters with you," replied Durra. "However I can contact someone who is."

"That's okay," said Sheppard. "Negotiating between galactic powers isn't in my job description either. Is there a stargate here?"

"There is," replied Frey. "I will have the address sent to your ship, since I assume you will want to contact your people privately."

"Thank you."

* * *

At the request of the Vanir and the Averian's both the Weir and the O'Neill, along with the Averian fleet had engaged their cloaks. Now Sheppard was making a subspace phone call.

"Well Colonel Sheppard," said Woolsey, having just been debriefed on everything that had happened. "You certainly know how to keep the diplomats busy."

"What can I say," replied Sheppard with a grin. "In the Pegasus galaxy you never know what you may find. Why it seems like only the other month we were getting ready to wipe out the Wraith if they didn't accept the cure, only for us to discover they had a single ruler who could make that happen."

"Colonel," replied Woolsey. "That was the other month, and I'm still dealing with the negotiations that followed. Not to mention making sure they are all being fed."

"Really? Wow, seems like a lot longer than a month."

Woolsey snorted.

"I only wish it was, all of this would be done with," he said before turning serious. "I've seen the latest reports from the Wraith scouting fleets."

"And?"

"They've discovered several more worlds that were culled to extinction."

Sheppard swore.

"It's not all that bad," said Woolsey.

Sheppard snorted in disbelief.

"How can it not be that bad?"

"From what they could tell the planets were not culled recently. I tasked the Apollo to check it out, and from what they could tell the planets were culled five years ago."

"You mean they weren't wiped out until the rest of the Wraith woke up."

"Exactly. One theory is that there was a large number of Wraith in the area that got very hungry."

"Or the Wraith base is in the area and they thought they needed to stock up on food," Sheppard countered.

"It seems likely. The planets that we already knew about are closer to our side of the galaxy than the ones being scouted."

"So the Wraith woke up, realised they could be facing a threat and decided to stock up and the latest ones are just to feed the troops."

"The new systems being scouted are starting to form a pattern. It looks like we may be finding an outline of their territory," Woolsey added.

"That would make sense. They wanted to create a dead zone around there territory so the enemy couldn't establish a forward base to hit at them from. And while they build up their forces they have the stargate to gather food."

"You think we should be checking gate addresses?"

Sheppard shook his head.

"No the Wraith could easily have just moved one to a barren planet and let the system update. Hell we've done that before just so we couldn't be found."

"So it's down to the Wraith then," Woolsey simply stated.

"Hey we can always ask the Asgard to do a few long range scans once they catch a sniff of something. Echidna wouldn't object if it keeps her children out of harms way. In the mean time you get to come to a nice meet and greet. Oh and bring the documentation we showed the Travellers about the new Wraith outlook on life."

"I'll see to it, and I'll be there in a little while."

* * *

"Admiral Durra I'm happy to report that my man should be here within the hour."

"That is excellent news Colonel Sheppard. Minister Jakose and his assistant Vanir liaison Sovaer will be here in an hour for talks. I suggest we use the Vanir city as it is neutral ground."

"Agreed. Can I assume you'll be joining us?"

"You can, yes."

"Then I'll see you in an hour."

* * *

Sitting in the Vanir conference room the Tau'ri delegates were awaiting the arrival of the Averian delegates. Woolsey had arrived on planet via the stargate a little while ago with the standard first contact information package. Since so many of the Pegasus galaxies inhabitants had learned by now that the Tau'ri were not native to the galaxy it had been decided that from the return to the galaxy all first contact missions would include a package of information offering brief outlines about the Tau'ri. No details of military value were included in the package but it still contained a wealth of information that speed along the trust process and getting to know one another. This part of the package had already been presented to the Averian's with their thanks. In addition to this Woolsey had brought along the same information package regarding the new Wraith that had been presented to the Travellers. This included the video recordings of their first talks with Echidna as well as the following encounter with the sister queen clones that resulted in their death. In the centre of the table was a small dome, the Vanir version of a portable hologram projector, a hook up to which had been provided by their Vanir hosts for use during these talks.

After waiting for a few minutes the Averian party finally arrived, amongst them the familiar face of Admiral Durra and accompanying him were two new faces, presumably Minister Jakose and his assistant Vanir liason Sovaer. The first of the two was clearly much older with his wizened face wrinkled with smile lines and his sprouting hair and full beard a silvery grey. His companion was much younger, barely out of his thirties with short cropped jet black hair and an athletic build. His eyes were sharp, darting around the room and taking everything around him in, wary of threats, all of which suggested a wary caution and a potential military background. Clearly this man was the assistant as he was dressed much less formerly than his elder companion, wearing a one piece dark form fitting two piece suit, that had a distinctly military feel, underneath a full length black leather trench coat. His companion however was dressed in what would probably be the Averian version of formal attire, similar to a modern earth style three piece navy suit with a black shirt, except lacking the jacket and the waistcoat had sleeves. The younger man had entered the room first, his eyes having quickly scanned the room and its occupants before the Minister had entered. Given this and his presumed military background it was likely that this man acted not only as the Ministers assistant but also his bodyguard.

The presumed Minister was the first speak.

"Greetings people of the Tau'ri," he intoned, his deep voice resonating off the curved walls. "I am Minister Jakose, this is my assistant and Vanir liason Sovaer, and I believe you have already met Admiral Durra."

"Greetings people of Averia," replied Woolsey. "I am Administrator Woolsey and this is Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Rodney McKay."

"Well now," said Jakose. "Where shall we begin?"

"Actually we have a video we would like you to watch of our first encounter with a Wraith called Echidna," said Woolsey. "It will prove very important for the future."

"A Wraith?" asked Durra, suspiciously. "Are you allied with her?"

The mood quickly turned sour. Wraith worshippers were some of the most hated people in the galaxy and the suggestion, no matter how vague, that you might be members of the Wraith fan club were likely to get you lynched.

Luckily Woolsey was quick to spot the implication and tried to calm the waters.

"I can assure you that all your questions will be answered once the video is over," Woolsey replied diplomatically.

"I hope so," said Sovaer, who was no less oblivious to the mood than Woolsey.

"Doctor McKay if you would please," requested Woolsey.

Rodney tapped on his tablet and the hologram projector began to glow. As the lights in the room dimmed a two dimensional image appeared and began to play the first meeting they had had with Echidna. As the recording played out numerous emotions played out on the faces of the Averian's. Shock, surprise and sympathy at hearing Echidna's tale were all there but most prominently shock that the Wraith could undergo such a change. The image switched to show Echidna receiving the treatment that removed her ability to feed on humans and restored her ability to eat regular food. Then the image changed once again to show the _Arima_ recovery operation, where Echidna offered her children an ultimatum and the Tau'ri displayed the power they had at their disposal. The recordings both showed that the Tau'ri backed Echidna and her cured children and also gave a small glimpse to the technology they had available to them. When the final recording finished the projection shut off and the lights returned to normal levels.

"I'm assuming you have questions," Woolsey stated simply.

"Indeed we do," said Jakose. "Have all Wraith accepted the cure?"

"Most have but not all follow Echidna. Two of her daughters have rebelled and have gathered a group of followers to them. As we speak the rest of the Wraith have begun hunting them down ever since Echidna's son was taken by the group."

"She must be very angry," Sovaer stated.

"Do you know the size of the rebel forces?" asked Durra.

Sheppard shook his head. "No but we are confident we can deal with them."

Jakose seemed to pondering something so Sovaer asked the next question for him.

"How many Wraith have been cured so far?"

"I'm afraid we cannot provide details about the Wraith that we do not have permission to give," Woolsey answered diplomatically. "However I can tell you that all those loyal to Echidna have been cured, and can no longer feed on humans."

"Can we assume that you have an alliance with Echidna?" asked Durra.

"We do."

"We would like to meet her," said Jakose, finally speaking.

"I'm sure you would," said Woolsey. "However she is quite busy at the moment organising the search for her son, but I will let her know your interest."

"Thank you," said Jakose.

"You clearly trust her," Sovaer remarked.

"We have good reason to," said McKay. "She won't let those who will feed on humans live when they have a choice not to. You'd trust her too."

"Trust takes time," Sovaer shot back.

"You trust the Vanir," retorted McKay.

"I have good reason to trust the Vanir."

"And we have good reason to be suspicious of them."

"And I have good reason not to be."

"Besides the fact that you're the Vanir liason?"

"Because of the reason I am the Vanir liason."

Sheppard and Durra shared a knowing look, as did Woolsey and Jakose. They'd seen it before, two people convinced they're right and suspect the other might be wrong. Woolsey decided to break the silence.

"The Asgard are looking at the Vanir records," said Woolsey. "But for now that is not a matter to be discussed. We have seen the records and from what we can tell they are legitimate. For now there is nothing more to discuss about the Vanir or the Wraith."

"Because that is a tale for her to tell and be told in confidence," said Jakose. "Am I right?"

Woolsey nodded. "You are."

"You honour your allies by letting them reveal what they wish," said Durra with a small smile.

"And you honour yours by helping them to defend themselves from accusations," said John. "I hope you didn't reveal anything you'd like to take back."

"Do not let it trouble you," said Sovaer. "I would have told you as well if I had been here."

"I'm sure the Vanir appreciate having you as their liason," said Woolsey.

"Not as much as I appreciate the chance to be their liason," he replied.

It was an intriguing response, looking at the man they could see he truly meant his words. The Vanir had earned this mans trust, and maybe even his loyalty.

"We have given you information on our people," said Woolsey. "And we have told you about our allies the Wraith and the Asgard. Now we would like to hear about your own people."

Jakose nodded. "Very well. But there are limits to what I can tell you."

"I understand."

* * *

**Unknown System **

While the Tau'ri were rooting out information on the Averian past the Wraith were busy hunting down the kin that had betrayed their Matriarch, and it seemed they were getting close. In the middle of the system a single massive hyperspace window opened and ejected the Wraith scout fleet in its entirety. Eleven hive ships and ninety seven cruisers were ejected back into normal space and they immediately started to carry out the task they had been given. The sensor beams of the fleet focused together to scour the system for any signs of activity and like so many other systems they had scanned before they found nothing. This first method having failed the collective Wraith in the fleet linked their minds together and extended their senses outwards. Like spectres not bound by the restraints of the physical plane they passed through the hulls of the ships their bodies resided in, and then further still. Faster than their hyperdrive would allow them to go their collective consciousness spread out of the system in all directions, searching for minds similar to their own. Further and further they travelled their combined minds extending their range far beyond what they could normally achieve individually. Further and further, as far as they could they searched until just as they were reaching their limit they caught a glimpse of what they were searching for. Wraith minds working in harmony, obeying orders and carrying out instructions, the way a hive should function.

This was it, what they had been searching for all this time. A hive like their own but not part of their own. A rogue group that followed the commands of sister queens that had betrayed their Matriarch, their mother. Their instructions were clear and they carried them out. If they did not have the range to fully map the location of the enemy hive mind they were to call forth the rest of their kin and pool their mental powers to increase their range. While they waited they sent a message to their Matriarch that they had found traces of the enemy and were calling in the rest of the scout ships. When the two other scout fleets finally arrived they pooled their mental powers and focused in on the hive mind they had previously only glimpsed and what a sight they found.

This hive was so unlike their own so lacking in independence and the freedom of thought they now possessed. This hive was so ordered, so structured, so controlled, so dominated, so lacking in independent thought. The minds in this hive were so in sync that it was impossible to determine how many were apart of it. The only clear thing they could see were those at the top, the two dominating minds controlling everything that happened. Those and the single mind that shone like a beacon because it was not part of the hive, not subjected to the dominating will of the minds of the queens. This mind was free, free from control, full of independent thoughts and ideas, and also weakening.

The now combined scout fleet reported all this and were given instructions accordingly. Wait, watch, when the attack begins watch for enemy survivors that might try to escape and do not interfere.


	18. Planning

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Your not the only one with suspisions but i'm not saying a word. I've been planning the Averians introduction into the story almost since the beginning, admittedly in a slightly different way but i like this one better, now i finally get to write about them.**

**Shadow of Realm: I will not say a word until the final reveal, until then you'll just have to wait and see. Glad you like Sovaer.**

**Andriabow: Glad you're enjoying it. I hope you like the new chapter.**

* * *

The Averian people's history could be described in many ways; full, rich, lively and occasionally troubled. To the majority of the Pegasus galaxies inhabitants however their history could be summarised rather simply, they were lucky. If an individual were asked to elaborate then they were very lucky. If pressed for further details then they were very very lucky. If you actually got them to explain why then you would learn that the Averian's were members of a very small group in the Pegasus galaxy, they had never once been culled by the Wraith. Never had their planet fallen under the fearful gaze of the Wraith, no hive had ever approached, no cruiser had ever come close and no dart had ever scouted the planet. Throughout their known history not one single Wraith had stepped foot on the soil of the world that was now known as Averia.

To gain a better perspective of them however you would have to look more closely at the details of their situation. One detail always comes into play, location. Location, location, location, it almost always comes down to location, and the Averian's had a truly wonderful location. Averia was on the outskirts of the Pegasus galaxy, in an area where space was truly vast and habitable systems were far and few in between, far from prying eyes and far from the hunting grounds of the Wraith. In one system seeded with life so long ago the Averian people had come together to build a mighty society, a society that had risen to much the same point as a twenty first century Earth, and one day everything had changed. Unlike Earth Averia possessed a natural resource of great power and potential, naquadah. Beneath the planets surface were several veins of this precious natural resource that allowed the Averian's to begin experimenting in new methods of power generation. On the day that the first naquadah power generator was successfully tested the scientists that created it celebrated their achievement. Not knowing that they would shortly be given a whole new reason to celebrate.

Deep within a lone mountain, sensors that had silently monitoring the civilisation over the millennia registered the massive amount of power being produced by a single relatively small generator. Compelled by commands left by a small band of scientists that had long since passed from this plain of existence the facility began to power up. Conduits that had previously only been drawing the smallest amount of power began to operate at a near maximum capacity for the first time in over ten thousand years. System checks were ran and the results noted, power levels were registered, the facilities version of a chronometer was checked and the time that the facility had been dormant was registered, and an automated message was sent.

In the lab where the scientists that had created the planets first naquadah generator a hologram of dark haired woman and a map appeared, bringing the celebrations to a halt.

"Greetings," said the woman. "For many years now you have been watched in the hope that your people would progress to the point where you would be capable of understanding the great truth I have to tell you. Now that you have reached the point where you can harness this worlds most precious resource to benefit your society it is clear that you are ready. Millennia ago my people seeded this galaxy with life, and you are one such example of that life that eventually evolved. But what we could not foresee was one particular form of life that would evolve, a species known as the Wraith. Like a great horror emerging from the dark they spread their tendrils deeper and deeper into the galaxy. The Wraith fed on humans, gaining strength and longevity for every life they took. My people fought the Wraith and for a time it seemed like we were winning and we pushed deeper and deeper into their territory. Some ships were lost but many Wraith ships were destroyed and their stranglehold on many worlds was loosened. But just when it seemed like we would finally win the day the Wraith horde re-emerged stronger than ever. Entire armadas of ships emerged from the dark to confront our own, forcing them to retreat more often than not so that we could converse our numbers. More and more human worlds were lost as the Wraith tide surged forwards and eventually all but one world was lost to us. On the great city known as _Atlantis_ my people made their final stand, we would hold that world while the rest of our people gathered there so that we might retreat and some day return. Some of us felt that this was unacceptable and that we might never return to liberate this galaxy so we made preparations. On this world that you call home we built an Ark of knowledge. In this Ark we placed the most basic of our knowledge in the hope that you would one day be capable of using it to fight the Wraith threat should we not have returned. If you are seeing this message then we have not returned and it is up to you to free this galaxy. But we warn you, be careful and cautious for the enemy you face is more dangerous than you know. Find the Ark, and you will see the face of the enemy."

The message had kept on repeating over and over until a shaft to the Ark had been dug and the corridors traversed for the first time in ten thousand years. Inside they would eventually find a treasure trove of information. Information on the war against the Wraith, the basic hull designs for a transport ship of the Ancients own design and the barest hints at the designs for plasma weapons, hyperdrive's, shields and mini drones were all amongst the data found. And in a room right near the entrance to the Ark was one of the Ancients greatest creations, a working stargate. To the casual observer this gate looked like any other stargate in the Pegasus galaxy but further inspection of the database would show that this particular stargate had one exception to it. While anyone could dial out and successfully establish a wormhole no one could dial in. The planetary address had been locked out of the gate network for the sake of security and the only dialling crystal capable of establishing a connection was in the _Atlantis_ DHD. Combing through the database they eventually found that in the Ancients language the word for ark was averia. They decided to name their world Averia and became known as the Averian's.

Over time they would begin to expand their influence, conquer space travel, traverse hyperspace and see new worlds. One of those worlds was found in the database, listed under potential hiding places from the Wraith provided the atmosphere could be kept at bay. It was on this world that they found a culture also hidden from the Wraith and yet still fighting for their very survival, the Vanir.

* * *

**Vanir City – Conference Room**

The meeting had been going on for some time now and in that time glimpses had been shown of both the Tau'ri and Averian societies. Secrecy was of course an important thing to both sides, they wanted to keep their personal strengths apparent but deep in shadow so that neither side would try to risk attacking the other and taking what the other possessed. Diplomacy was a tricky thing when conducted between two space capable societies who both have the need to advance rapidly in the face of a great threat. Of course neither side were considering attacking the other, they would rather have friends than another powerful enemy to take on, but caution was something deeply engrained into both races, as was fear. Both sides suspected their were some things the other side weren't telling them and wondered what they were, but both sides also knew when to leave well enough alone for the sake of friendship because there are some things people just don't want to talk about and would rather leave in the past.

Having given each other the information that they chose to give and having already given hints as to their technological and military capabilities the conversations now turned to other topics. Wishes for a non-aggression pact were voiced, outlines of territories were also politely requested and interest in seeing each others homes were also expressed. Once again though the need for secrecy and a certain amount of distrust on both sides, at least for the present time, was politely expressed as the Vanir research was still being investigated by the Asgard.

The real moment of interest though came with a surprise transmission from Atlantis through the stargate.

"Colonel Sheppard," said the voice of Chuck over the radio. "Echidna is requesting permission to join you immediately."

Sheppard turned to the assembled delegates.

"It seems you'll be able to meet the Matriarch sooner than we thought. She's requesting permission to join us."

"I'll send a message to the Vanir guards that a foreign delegate is wishing to join us," said Jakose. "That should speed things along."

"Thank you," Woolsey replied curtly.

"Chuck," said Sheppard, speaking into his ear wig. "Standby and tell Echidna that she'll be able to join us shortly."

"Understood."

* * *

When Echidna finally walked through the conference room doors, escorted by two Vanir guards, the shock on the Averian's faces was apparent. The three of them had probably never seen a Wraith in the flesh before, let alone a queen. Echidna was an imposing figure when she was in a bad mood, and clearly being delayed hadn't helped improve her attitude.

She immediately turned to Sheppard, ignoring everyone else.

"I need to speak to you," she said in a tone that allowed for no argument. "Alone."

Woolsey raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"This does not concern you," Echidna snapped. "It is a military matter."

"You found them," said Sheppard in a low voice.

"If I may, found who?" asked Jakose, although by the look on his face he clearly had his suspicions.

"You may not," Echidna replied testily. "This is a Wraith problem and if I could help it then it would stay that way."

"You found them didn't you," said Jakose, calm in the face of Echidna's anger. "The ones that would not accept the cure."

"What do you know of such things?" asked Echidna.

"Only that not all Wraith accepted the cure."

"Then stay out of matters that you know nothing about," she shot back angrily.

"How strong are they?" asked Sheppard, trying to divert the Matriarch's anger.

"Strong enough that I can not do this alone," she replied with resentment in her voice. "Stronger than I hoped they would be."

"Do you have sensor readings?"

"Yes, but the picture is not clear. We do not know of the exact numbers of ships they possess."

"You realise that it's safe to assume that they don't have their entire fleet deployed where we can see it right?"

"I do," Echidna begrudgingly admitted.

"Then you're going to need all the help you can get besides us and the Asgard," Sheppard said calmly.

"I did not say I wanted the Asgard's help," Echidna snapped.

"Well too bad because the Asgard are the only ones with the tracking capabilities to find those ships if they try to make a break for it," Sheppard retorted. "Besides we need all the help we can get."

"Then might I offer something," said Jakose calmly.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"The more ships you have then the better chances you have of ending this threat once and for all. I propose that Admiral Durra and a fleet of Averian warships accompany you so that we can wipe out the Wraith threat once and for all."

Everyone one was silent as they processed this. More ships would greatly improve the odds they had of destroying the Wraith stronghold once and for all.

"What interest do you have in this battle?" Echidna asked sceptically.

"We Averian's have been preparing to fight the Wraith for a long time now. While others have started the fight in our stead we intend to see that it ends with a satisfactory conclusion," replied Jakose.

"How powerful are your ships?"

"From what we've seen they're quite capable," said Sheppard answering for them. "How many can you send?"

"I believe that is a question for Admiral Durra to answer," said Jakose.

"If I have permission I could take along my entire assault force," said Durra, receiving a nod from the Minister. "In which case I'll have fifty warships to bring to the fight."

The Tau'ri, and even Echidna, was surprised at that. It was certainly a powerful force for a people in the Pegasus galaxy to have at their disposal with the Wraith threat in the past ten thousand years. The Averian's must have been preparing for quite some time to have that kind of force at the ready.

The Averian's could no longer stick to their plan of biding their time, building up their strength. They had suddenly found themselves in a changing galaxy. With the return of their long lost brothers the Vanir no longer needed their protection. The Tau'ri had emerged as a new power and just five years after stumbling onto the stage they had completely changed life in the Pegasus galaxy. While the Averian's had been building a sizeable fleet outfitted with their greatest technology to date the Tau'ri had been fighting the war that they had promised to someday fight. True the Wraith suddenly emerging from hibernation in force had shaken the board but the number of pieces hadn't really changed. But now though some of the pieces had switched sides and the Wraith had become an ally rather than an enemy. The only thing left was to finish sweeping up the last of the enemy pieces that remained.

The enemy had been found, the allied pieces were moving into position and with one sweep they hoped to end it. In the past the Averian people had been found wanting, but this time they would stand tall and proud alongside their new allies and finish the fight once and for all.

* * *

**O'Neill – Bridge**

The Asgard warship had been chosen for this strategy meeting between the four races who had allied themselves against the rogue Wraith. Featuring state of the art imaging systems the holographic display tank on the bridge offered them an excellent way to plan their assault on the Wraith stronghold. Present were Thor, Echidna, Sheppard, McKay and Durra. Colonel's Ellis and Caldwell had joined the group once their ships had arrived and joined the rest of the fleet over the Vanir homeworld.

"Well they certainly weren't planning on making it easy for us," said Sheppard.

The others couldn't help but agree, stronghold was certainly an appropriate choice of words for this system. From what their long range scans using Asgard sensors had shown they would be looking at a tough fight even with the large fleet they had with them. The planet was giving off large power emissions and from what they could tell there were multiple objects brimming with power. If there fears were anything to go by then these were anti-ship weapons ready to fire at anything that made an attempt to get close to the planet. Scans also gave indications of large structures where the enemy hive mind seemed more concentrated. Grouped in there own area were hundreds of small buildings that seemed to be acting in as fences around vast fields of land. A more focused scan directed at this area had indicated hints of naquadah and the energy emissions from a stargate from inside a large structure at the centre of the fields. Presumably it had been brought in after the planet was settled on by the Wraith as the address was not in the Atlantis database.

"Those smaller power signatures are probably anti-ship weapons," said McKay. "If that's correct then they have hundreds of weapons protecting their facilities."

"Can we really take on that many orbital weapons?" asked Caldwell, having had more ship to ship combat experience against the Wraith than anyone.

"My ships should be able to bring enough fire power to bear to deal with them," said Durra. "However if they target our ships before hand then we will take a lot of damage."

"From what we can tell those weapons would be as powerful as a hive," said McKay. "They should be able to take down your shields in seven shots. If they group their fire then you could lose a lot of your ships."

"Our sensors should be able to get an accurate fix on the weapons once we're in system," said Ellis. "If we paint the targets before hand we should be able to target them all without letting them fire off more than a single volley in return."

"That means we'll be leaving the entire lot for our ion and plasma cannons," said Sheppard.

"We'll save the nukes for sweep up afterwards," said Caldwell. "That means our battle cruisers will have to stay back and engage the ships. Our weapons are better used against the hives and darts."

"Speaking of the hives and darts, not to mention the cruisers," said Thor. "How are we going to deal with all of them?"

The Asgard had raised a valid point the word fleet wasn't something you could easily apply to the sheer number of ships around the system, not when the word armada was up for consideration. What they could see were sixty hive ships and swarms of darts patrolling the area only to land again on the planet. Now presumably this meant that the hives themselves had a full compliment of darts onboard which was at least ten thousand, which brought the count to well over six hundred thousand darts. Then there were the cruisers dotted around the system again in fleets of their own, because they were clustered together it was hard to tell just how many there were but it appeared to be in the region of at least nine hundred. If these cruisers also held thirty darts each then that was an extra twenty seven darts to throw into the mix. Clearly the Wraith had been building up their forces since they were awoken from hibernation. To make matters worse though there were numerous moons around the other planetoids that showed signs having of defensive emplacements placed on them.

"The hive ships are grouped together around the planet," said Durra. "This means that if we want to get at them and their base of operations we'll have to go through the defensive screen around them. Once we attack them in force then their forces are going to converge on us."

"Unfortunately attacking them in force may be the only option we have," said Thor. "While we posses the stealth technology necessary to attack them from multiple points we cannot attack both the fleet and the planet at the same time without serious losses."

"So what do you suggest?" asked Sheppard.

"We need to deal with the fleet first, once destroyed we can bombard the planet at our leisure to deal with the rest," Thor stated simply.

"I think we are forgetting something important," said Echidna.

"What are we forgetting?" asked Ellis.

"My son," Echidna spat.

"If we bombard the planet we'll kill him too," said Sheppard. "We have to get him out of there."

"If we try a rescue mission the other Wraith could escape or worse we could be destroyed," Ellis stated bluntly.

"The only reason I am accepting your help is so that my son will be rescued," Echidna replied, equally blunt. "If you will not help me then you will stay out of this or there will be no alliance between us."

"We owe it to Todd," added Sheppard. "Without him we could be in a much worse position than we are now."

"Then we need a new plan," said Ellis.

"I think I have one," said Sheppard. "The first step involves a small team breaking in to the facility where he's being held and finding him. Once we have him we can beam the team out and Todd with them."

"What kind of team did you have in mind?" asked Echidna.

"It'll have to be a small team otherwise they'll be discovered in no time. That's why I recommend mine."

* * *

**Vanir city – Sovaer's personal quarters **

"Its funny how much the galaxy changed since we met the Vanir JJ," said Sovaer. "Just think we would still be gearing up for war with the Wraith."

"We still are getting ready for war Aerin," said Jovin Jakose, as he graciously accepted the glass of wine being handed to him.

"True but at least we know where the enemy is this time, just think by tomorrow the war with the Wraith could be over. Did you actually think we'd get to see it in our lifetime?"

Jovin snorted. "Not with the amount of stress you put me under, it's your fault my hairs grey."

Aerin pretended to look offended. "How do you think I felt when I suddenly saw you, I thought I'd been in stasis for decades."

"Oh ha ha very funny," said Jovin while his old friend laughed. "You know I was only a few years older than you when you went in. Now look at you, you spent so much time in stasis and I spent so much time worrying that I could be your father."

"You didn't spend all your time worrying did you old friend," said Aerin. "I'm not sure what was more of a shock, your new face or your new title."

"It was easy really," said Jovin dismissively. "With you in stasis I suddenly found myself with a lot of free time since I didn't have to keep an eye on you."

"Please," said Aerin disbelievingly. "You just wanted me to have to call you sir at official functions when I finally got out."

"I never had any doubt you would my friend."

"I know old friend. I know."

"Your position certainly comes with some advantages," Jovin remarked, referring to large window that offered a view of a lush valley.

"It certainly is very realistic isn't it? Still it's hardly surprising that the Vanir would think of such a thing. You might go mad having to look at the same walls all the time."

"If I didn't know any better I would think you begged for the job simply for the view."

The two old friends were interrupted by a chime, indicating that someone was at the door.

"Come in," called Aerin.

The door swished open to reveal Admiral Durra.

"Ah Admiral," said Aerin. "I'm guessing you're here to see the Minister so I won't offer you a glass of wine or call you Bovin."

Bovin smirked at the Vanir liason, "You would be correct."

He turned to the Minister who had put down his glass, his face becoming serious.

"What stage are we at?" Jakose asked.

"We've finalised plans for the attack sir," said Durra.

"What do you think of them?"

"Its bold sir but I think it has a good chance of success, if all goes well."

"What's on your mind Admiral?" Jakose asked, sensing there was something troubling him.

"Well sir," said Durra hesitantly. "The first part of the plan is a search and rescue, although we're relatively certain we know were the captive is there's still a certain amount of risk involved."

"Who is the captive?"

"Echidna's son."

Both Jakose and Sovaer grimaced at that.

"Well this certainly complicates things," said Sovaer. "What's the plan for getting him out?"

"A four person team will infiltrate the facility where he is being held, once they have him they'll beam him and the team out."

"Four people, it's definitely risky," Sovaer commented, his own glass now long discarded.

"Large numbers would mean they are more likely to be detected," explained Durra. "The plan requires the Wraith to not know about our presence until the last possible moment."

"Would they allow for one more person?" Sovaer asked seriously.

"I think so," said Durra.

"Do you want to volunteer?" he asked jokingly.

"Actually yes."

"What?" asked Jakose disbelievingly. "You can't be serious."

"You know the benefits better than I do if this goes well," Sovaer reasoned. "Besides you know that having me there will improve the odds in our favour."

"You're mad," Jakose stated.

"I agree sir. But he does have a point," Durra admitted.

Jakose sighed.

"At this rate I'm going to go bald," he muttered. "Fine, but if you don't come back alive I'll kill you."

* * *

"Why is it always us?" Rodney wondered aloud.

"What do you mean why is it always us?" John asked from the helm of the puddle jumper.

"I mean why is it always us that always goes on these missions that, which if successful, can have wonderful benefits but seem borderline insane?"

The rest of his team all thought about this for a moment. Arguably he did have a point, it usually was them who ended up on the wacky missions that could decide the fate of large numbers of people. And you had to wonder why it had to be them that were flying in a cloaked puddle jumper to the place where they had been told Todd was being held while sneaking past a frighteningly large Wraith armada. Surely they had done this kind of thing enough times already? Or maybe that was the problem.

"Because we've done this thing more than anyone else and experience makes things easier," said John as he concentrated on staying out of the way of yet another patrol of darts around the planet they were heading for.

"Do not worry Rodney," Teyla added. "You will have us to keep an eye on you."

Beside her Ronon nodded.

"And you'll have me too," Sovaer chipped in from his seat in the back of the jumper. "So it's not like it's just you."

"You know," said Rodney. "While I'm grateful for the back up I have to ask, why are you here?"

Sovaer pretended to look slightly offended at the remark.

"Is it not the duty of allies to help one another?" he replied innocently.

"Yes, but I thought the fleet your people were contributing covered that one rather nicely."

"True but my people have been preparing for a day like this for a long time now."

McKay snorted. "So why not have some of your soldiers join us?"

"I have been through the same training as our soldiers have, plus I volunteered."

"What makes you so special?"

When Sovaer stayed silent Sheppard decided to pitch in to alleviate the tension.

"And what better way to make friends with the Wraith than by helping save the Matriarchs son, right Sovaer?" he asked jokingly.

Sovaer smirked in return. "No doubt the reason the Minister let me come along in the first place."

"Well get ready," said Sheppard as the small ship dove in the planets atmosphere. "Because we're here already."

* * *

**Please click review and leave a few words.**


	19. Time to strike

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Suspense is one of my favourite troupes to use, i find it goes very well with cliffhangers. Hopefully i can surprise you, but i'm confident that i have one idea you haven't seen coming yet ready to go. **

**Shadow of Realm: Thanks for the correction. No we can't, we fear Echidna far to much for that.**

**DaletheChu: Well i think you'll find reading this chapter a lot less time consuming. I'm very glad to hear you had been saving this story and hope you enjoy the future chapters.**

**Jedi Carpet: There comes a point where the Wraith stopped being a decent threat in my mind, so i needed to come up with a good one.**

* * *

As the haze of re-entry cleared the sheer scale of the Wraith presence on the planet became more apparent than the impression given by long range scans. The planets surface was covered in Wraith installations of varying size, from huge towering web like structures to small tube like towers. In several places, clustered together, there were large open fields with small buildings acting as fences to break them down further. In some of these areas were sink marks and scorch marks indicating signs that large ships had once been present but taken off from the surface. Looking at the other areas like them it became apparent just what those ships had been, hive ships. Dozens of them were at various stages of growth, some a tiny nest of tendrils where fully grown ships had once lain, others ranged from half completed ships to nearly fully grown behemoths. It was a large building near the heart of a web of much smaller buildings that the small space ship now flew towards, dodging around the smaller towers that they believed to be weapon emplacements. It was this building that the Wraith had sensed the presence of their brother, Todd.

Landing near the entrance of the massive Wraith construct the jumper gently touched down, the cloak remaining active as the ramp lowered. The five person team quickly disembarked from the jumper, the ramp rising shut behind them. Moving quickly and above all quietly they headed towards the entrance. It was the work of a moment to override the door controls and gain access to the facility. A thin veil of mist escaped as the door opened and quickly dissipated under the glare of the hot sun above. Stepping inside they made sure the doors slid shut behind them. If they could they would leave no indication of their presence until they were ready to strike.

Traversing the corridors of the Wraith facility was rather disconcerting for one member of the group. Unlike the others Sovaer did not have the experience that the others possessed having never even seen a Wraith in the flesh let alone stepped in a Wraith designed corridor. Once he stepped inside the building his eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom, and his skin softened from the moisture in the air. His first thought was to look for enemy threats, his second was that there were none and his third was that this place was just plain creepy. The combination of the gloom, mist and organic walls gave anyone unfamiliar with Wraith architecture an eerie sensation that they had been swallowed whole by a massive creature. It didn't help that he knew that the Wraith actually grew these structures which meant that they were actually alive. But if the others noticed his trepidation they didn't mention it.

"Teyla, which way?" asked Sheppard.

Lowering her P90 and closing her eyes Teyla focused on the part of her mind that was Wraith. Her brow wrinkled in concentration as she extended her normally disciplined mental senses outwards in search of their target. Ever wary of drawing the attention of the vast hive mind that dominated the greater majority of the occupants of the building she travelled further into the building. She tore down the corridors with her mind alone searching, seeking out the lone wolf in the middle of the pack, the mind of their ally and friend Todd. Deeper and deeper into the facility she went, the faint hint of the familiar mind becoming more and more distinguished on the edge of her senses. She was getting closer and closer to her target, until she turned one final corner and shot down the length of one last corridor and into a cell. In a cold and dark cell a familiar pair of sharp yellow eyes sprang open, the prodding at his mind having woken him from his slumber.

Teyla's own eyes shot open as her more natural senses reasserted themselves.

"I've found him," she said, as she set off down the corridor, weapon raised. "I'll take point, follow me."

They set off down the corridor in silence, silenced P90's at the ready with the exception of Ronon and Sovaer who were both wielding energy weapons of different designs. Rodney was also holding a life signs detector in one hand and was constantly glancing at the screen while watching where he was going.

No spoke as they proceeded deeper and deeper within the facility, but as they snuck through the corridors the mood became darker and darker as their personal fears started to creep in. The members of the team that called _Atlantis_ home couldn't help but feel apprehension about what was to come. They couldn't help but worry about the sight that would await them once they finally reached the cell where Todd was being held. They had no doubt that they would reach the cell, their sheer determination would see to it that they did no matter how many drones they might have to slaughter to get there.

But, what about when they did get there?

What would they find?

They couldn't help but fear at the state that Todd would be in?

Would he walk out of that cell or would they have to carry him?

They worried about him for many reasons. They had come to respect him for all the things that he was. As a man, a warrior, a tactician, a scientist, a loyal son, an ally, a friend and as a patriot to his race. They all saw him from their own unique perspective and they had all found a way to respect him.

And the fifth member of this rescue team saw that they would do whatever was necessary to save him and couldn't help but wonder. He wondered what this Wraith must be like for humans to go so far for him. He had heard the stories about this Wraith, how he had hid his mother when her life was threatened, how he pretended to serve the traitors for millennia until he could safely bring her out of hiding, how he had given himself up so that his mother could survive.

So Sovaer wondered what it would be like to meet this Wraith, to maybe get to know him. But most of all he wondered what the consequences would be if it turned out that he was beyond help. Echidna's mental state had been volatile enough when she thought her son was missing, and the thought of what she would be like if her son was dead did not bear thinking about. The Tau'ri would also not like the idea that they had failed to save him and might even be just as angry. So Sovaer knew that he could not hold back, he had to save this man from the evil that ensnared him.

They all knew that he was alive. The fact that Teyla could locate him by searching for his active mind was proof enough of that. But again they did not know what condition they would find in and the question remained. It loomed over them like an oppressive gargoyle, ever present in the dark corners of their minds.

When they found him would he still be the same person they had come to know and eventually trust?

Would he recover?

Could he recover?

But they knew what they had to do. They had to push these fears aside and do what they needed to do here and now to complete their task. They had to keep going. They had to travel deeper down these moist, dank and seemingly oppressive corridors that they were coming to despise the further they went, because they had to reach their destination. They had to get to the cell that held Todd. They had to free him. They had to get him out of here, free him from the jail guarded by mindless drones that were forced into slavery. They had to release him from the vile clutches of the vipers that had once been his beloved sisters before their insanity had taken hold in their lusts for power.

They had to.

They. Had. To.

* * *

You could find out a lot of information if you were to immerse yourself within a Wraith hive mind. When the minds of thousands are linked together the combined knowledge of them all is within reach. So much could be found out about the Wraith from spending a few hours attached to the hive mind, perusing the knowledge available. History, science, hive power structure and even social standing are all available to those who might search for them.

The typical hive mind of the Wraith is both simple and complicated. Simple in structure and very complicated in practise. But this was no typical hive and the collective consciousness that governed it was no different. A typical hive had a simple structure, with the queen at the top and her commander beneath her. Then came the lieutenants, the secondary commanders and the scientists, with the Wraith males who showed more promise than others being at the top of this power segment and the lesser skilled at the bottom. But beneath all of these and, as a rule, all equal and all of them subservient to any Wraith who possessed a personality of their own and were mainly controlled by them. And beneath them and yet in some ways equal were the worshippers, humans who had come to serve the Wraith and in some cases even worship them. In the eyes of humans everywhere these were the lowest of the low, more hated than even the Wraith themselves.

But this hive mind was different, so very different from a typical hive. Most hives were confined to a single hive ship and her escorts, but this hive minds will extended over sixty hive ships and more than nine hundred cruisers. Then there was the large number of buildings on the planet, manned by Wraith who were also under the hive minds control, making this one of the largest hives to have ever existed. Then there was the leadership element of this hive to consider. This was a hive where not one queen ruled but two, or rather two queens who spoke with the same voice. Long ago after the rebellion of Echidna's children, which would come to be known as the fall by those who followed Echidna, the two sisters had realised that in order to remain strong they would have to stand united. What few remembered was that these two sisters were not just sisters but twins, something believed to be impossible for modern day Wraith. The bond between these two was greater than between any others of their species, for they possessed something that the others did not, a permanent telepathic link. Amongst humans it was believed that twins shared an almost telepathic link that allowed them to know what the other was thinking, feeling, even experiencing. But with these two it wasn't a belief, it was an undeniable fact. The link that these two shared could be thought of as a gift but it had also acted as a curse. When these two had fed on humans for the first time they had transmitted their satisfaction at having their hunger quenched to each other. It was unfortunate timing but the combined sensations from the feeding had overwhelmed their minds and removed any chance of the two ever willingly not feeding on a human again. The rest of the group had already been gripped by the hunger for humans but in these two it was so much worse. Sometimes all it takes is a single tap to push someone over the edge and these two tapped the others. When the idea was first voiced that they hunt humans these two had leapt on the idea with a grim determination, and the others had quickly followed.

Then once there mother had fled and gone into hiding the two of them had thought to themselves that together they had been an undeniable force. They had led their brothers and sisters against their mother and together had succeeded in defeating her. Together they were strong, apart they were vulnerable. So the two had decided to strengthen the bond between them until they reached the point where they were almost mentally indistinguishable from each other. In essence they were one mind inhabiting two bodies. Then over time they became one mind with two bodies with thousands of puppets under their control. Together they were so powerful that any drones they created became mentally controlled puppets. The ritual was simple, when the drones were created they subjected to the mental control of the queens, conditioned to believe that they were just appendages of the two. This completed the highest and lowest positions of the Wraith hive command structure. The middle slot was filled by those that weren't drones that were given some individuality in the hope that they would come up with ideas to strengthen the twin queen's empire further. They were the scientists and the only ones who possessed free will, although free will does not offer much if you have no way to use it. They did however have a choice to make. They could either serve the queens or die. In a way they were more slaves than the lobotomised drones. The drones did not have a choice.

After the war against the Lanteans and with their all powerful mental control over their growing empire established, they had decided to prepare for the future. The war with the Lanteans had left the Wraith infrastructure heavily damaged. The Wraith war machine had been all but destroyed, and if it wasn't for the Wraith's secret weapon and the Lanteans overconfidence they might have been destroyed entirely. But the cloning facility had proven to be a one shot weapon as they now lacked a way to power it to the point where it would produce the vast numbers of drones that they needed. The attachment of growing ships to the facility, via umbilicals similar to those that connected cruisers and hives, had produced huge numbers of ships that had almost as quickly been destroyed. Not that this was as big a problem as it might seem for them, Wraith ships could be grown elsewhere just as easily but not as quickly. If the Lanteans ever made a return then the same strategy could eventually be implemented, until that time they would build cruisers to bolster their numbers. But if another enemy were to turn up that could present a threat to the remaining forces then a fall back would be necessary. The twin sisters had foreseen a possible threat and had decided to make plans, plans that would not only ensure the chances of their races survival but their own should any of their kin try to steal their seat of power.

They had found themselves a world that had not been seeded with life by the Lanteans or given a stargate and had started their work. One of the first things they had done was to create an alibi for themselves, a cover story so that their work could progress uninterrupted. Over time they grew clones of themselves and a fleet for their doubles to have at their disposal. Once the clones reached a young age the brainwashing began, the clones were drained and restored countless times until their will was none existent. Then when they were finally broken they were given charge of a fleet and a small army of Wraith, all of whom were ultimately loyal to the originals, and were placed in charge of guarding and studying the _Arima_. Precautions were taken, as the clones were kept in hibernation while the others worked since time was not an issue for the Wraith.

Then they had taken time to build up their forces, there were sixty hives, aside from their own, still out there that were not loyal to them. Over time their forces had grown to meet the bare minimum that the other hives had set. The research into growing structures had proven to be the most prosperous for the Wraith, as they were able to come up with several new designs to allow them to build a proper stronghold. The planets surface was relatively barren, meaning that Wraith ships would have difficulty growing as fast as they would otherwise be able to without the natural resources. However this could be compensated for with additional power for the process and the planet was in too strategically valuable a location to give up for this reason. Structures were grown that were designed to absorb and generate energy to speed up the growth of Wraith ships. At the centre of this web was a large building designed for researching ways of improving their ships, making the Away from these growth fields were large complexes designed along similar lines to the Wraith cloning facility, but not actually cloning facilities. These facilities would allow for the growth of Wraith soldiers, but because the cloning process was so highly inefficient they would only produce drones naturally. To provide the seeds for the soldiers growth queens had been bred without a higher consciousness, the twins didn't need more rivals after all. Other structures were eventually grown that were similar to the growth chamber on a hive ship for the construction of cruisers. To defend all of these, and to not unnecessarily tie up the defending fleet of ships, tall towers were grown that would act as defence weapons. These towers would be able to easily target ships in orbit and were able to generate their own energy, which was supplemented by energy generation buildings like those used in the growth fields.

All of these had become dormant until such a time as an enemy revealed itself that needed combating, not to say that the ship construction by the active hives had ceased as more and more cruisers had been built over time. Now though an enemy had arisen. Hives all over the galaxy were awakening and forces were rallying against them and so the twins had awakened from their own period of dormancy and begun to build up their forces. The growth fields were being filled with hive ships under construction, cruisers were being built in droves and drones were being produced in their thousands. But cautions were being taken, a sizeable fleet was guarding the world and even more buildings were being grown so that the production capabilities would rise. They were preparing for the days to come. To the twins, if they won, these days would be known as the resurgence, but if Echidna and her allies won they would call this time the rising. The rising of the true Wraith society as they should, in their minds, always have been.

The Wraith hive mind is such an interesting thing. In a large hive the death of a few drones barely registers, which could prove very unfortunate to the twins. They would never notice a small force infiltrating one of their facilities and possibly killing a few drones along the way.

* * *

The team crept through the corridors, moving as quickly and as quietly as they could. The dangers of what they were doing ever present in their minds. So far they had gotten quite a way into the facility without running into any patrols. Some had past their way but the team had been able to hide in empty rooms while the patrols went by. For a while their luck seemed to be holding, they were getting closer and closer to Todd's cell and hadn't encountered any difficulties. But their luck couldn't last forever.

They were moving along the corridor. Teyla was on point, Sovaer and Ronon next in line, backed by McKay and with Sheppard covering their rear. They would have kept on going forward down the corridor to the t-junction ahead but McKay, who still had his life signs detector out, signalled for them to stop. Looking at the life signs detector they saw what had caused there halt. At the upcoming t-junction, on either side of the corridor positioned with their backs to them were two Wraith. Thus far they had only encountered roving patrols, not stationary guards, which indicated the security precautions were increasing and that from here on things would be more difficult.

Ronon drew one of his many hidden knives from a pouch in his coat. Sovaer gave him a look before nodding and pulling out a wicked looking knife of his own. Like two animals on the hunt the two of them stalked forward, creeping closer to the intersection. The rest of the team hung back, waiting for the two predators to claim their kills. When the pair reached the end of the corridor they glanced at each other, Ronon held up five fingers, Sovaer nodded and one of Ronon's fingers dropped. They didn't have to speak to convey the plan but instead just stole a glance around the corner while continuing the countdown in their mind. Three, two, one and on zero they struck. They knew the position of the Wraith guards and struck like vipers. Moving with almost inhuman speed they swung around the corner their arms moving in a graceful arc until their knives went straight through their necks. The skin broke easily, the Wraiths wind pipe offering little resistance and the spinal cord offering slightly more. The knife strike had come from below, so the drones had never even seen it coming and had not even moved an inch. Any noise of surprise they might have made was easily muffled by the masks they wore, and they were grabbed by the collar by their attackers and gently lowered to the ground.

The rest of the team moved up to the join them the second the pair had struck and the life signs vanished.

"We need to get rid of these two," said Sheppard, gesturing to the pair of corpses.

"There's a storage room back down the corridor," offered McKay.

Sovaer and Ronon didn't respond, they simply grabbed their kills by the collar again and dragged them down the corridor. Once the drones were safely stowed away, hidden from sight behind some crates, the team moved on again.

This wasn't the last obstacle that they encountered, the further they went the more roving patrols there were and the more stationary guards. In some cases they were forced to go around the guards, their positions being too heavily patrolled for their absence to go without notice. When this happened they had to wait while Rodney did a wide scan in an attempt to map out the corridors so that they could safely get around without deviating from their course. Unfortunately they could not always use such a tactic and one time they had no choice but to let Teyla plan out an alternative route for them to take. So far though their stealth tactics appeared to be working, no alarms had been raised and no unusual activity was seen to suggest the drones had been alerted to their presence. So the team kept on moving, getting closer and closer to their target.

* * *

The hive mind was strong, stable, the will of the twin queens undeniable. It encompassed the minds of all of those whom they called their subjects and the queens were confident in their supremacy over their subjects. Occasional thoughts and questions flitted across the link only to be answered or quashed in an instance.

Perhaps drones should be relegated to a loyal and hard working scientists control as a reward for his efforts. No.

Perhaps he should be granted human worshippers instead. No, humans were needed for food and it annoyed them to have to use drones for food without the humans they needed at hand.

Supplies of humans had been extinguished and some drones were reaching the limits of the time they could go without feeding. Put them in stasis until the culling parties are dispatched.

The prisoner had been awoken from hibernation but had not agreed to co-operate. It did not matter, he was already weakening and eventually he would have no choice but to submit to their will.

And yet something still niggled at the hive mind, something they felt they had missed. They couldn't quite place it. Something they had missed, no, something was missing. They had lost something, something almost inconsequential but something none the less. It did not matter. This stronghold was impervious, and soon, when their army was grown, they would be unbeatable.

So they pushed their doubts aside and focused on managing the productivity of their army.

* * *

The team were getting close. According to Teyla Todd's cell was just around the corner and right down the corridor. From what the life sign scanner could tell them there was indeed a single life sign in a small room around the corner and down the corridor. Unfortunately there was a slight snag in the form of the three Wraith guards standing right outside the cell. They were in a bind. There was no other way to the cell that wasn't even more heavily guarded and if they couldn't take down the drones quickly the alarm would be raised. If the alarm was raised then Wraith electronic countermeasures would come online and beaming out would be impossible, which would mean their route of escape would disappear and a swarm of Wraith would descend upon them. Retreat was not an option out of principle, so it seemed they had only one option left, keep moving forward.

"We need a plan," said Sheppard. "We can't just charge in there."

"Pick them off from a distance," said Ronon. "If we all strike at once we should be able to take them down before they raise the alarm."

McKay shook his head. "There's too much cover, there are alcoves that they can hide behind and then they can just raise the alarm and call in reinforcements."

"We need to come up with something quickly," said Teyla. "The longer we wait the more likely we are of being discovered."

Sovaer had been silent during the discussion but he had clearly been thinking something. Having come to a decision he spoke.

"I will go."

When the others looked at him, confused, he continued.

"I'll go first. I'll take down the first guard in close quarters, once he's down you take care of the rest."

Sheppard shook his head. "It's too risky. You'll never make it down the corridor without being hit at least once, and that's if you're lucky."

"I can handle a couple of stun blasts, and we don't have another choice. If it's me alone it should distract them, momentarily. When they move to get me you can take them out."

"Your nuts," said McKay.

"What he said," said Sheppard, before sighing. "Unfortunately nuts is probably our best option so let's try it."

"Good luck," said Teyla.

"Here goes nothing," said Sovaer as he drew his knife.

He staggered round the corner putting on an expression of confusion and bewilderment. The drones heard his footsteps and turned his way. When he froze in fear they began to advance on him, drawing their stunners as they went. He backed up against the wall, his eyes wide with fear as they drew closer. Then, as if he had realised he had no other choice but to go down fighting, he raised his knife and charged forwards, displaying a surprising burst of speed. The drones however had been expecting him to flee and were momentarily surprised that he was in fact charging at them! But they still raised their weapons instinctively and fired at him.

One blast clipped his shoulder causing him to stagger forwards, his reduced speed making him an easier target and a second blast hit him full on the chest. As he started to fall forwards, only a few feet from the drones, his foot came forwards instinctively to break his fall. As he started to fall the drones stopped firing, confident in their victory. That is until Sovaer landed gracefully and surged forward, pouncing like a tiger, knife raised and at the ready. He tackled the drone on the right to the ground, having taken him completely by surprise. He drove the knife blade into the drones exposed throat, killing him in seconds. As the remaining drones turned, shocked at what they had seen, the others struck. Before the drones could even draw their knives to combat the human in front of them they were cut down by P90 fire and energy blasts.

"How the hell did that not stop you?" asked McKay.

"My nervous system has safeguards against energy damage," said Sovaer calmly as he rose from the ground. "And it's harder to affect something as insulated as I am."

"You were the patient," McKay said quietly as realisation dawned.

"We'll talk about this later," said Sheppard.

* * *

Moving quickly they ran to the cell and were both shocked and relieved by what they saw. Slumped on a bench, looking exhausted and barely conscious but alive, was Todd. His clothes were ripped, his shirt collar ripped open and his chest marked with dark bruises, and the tell tale marks that he had been fed on. When the team approached the cell his eyes fluttered as he struggled to keep them open. Seeing Sheppard and McKay step into his cell, while the others stood guard, he gave a low chuckle at the sight.

"Ah, it seems my rides here," he rasped weakly.

"Good to see you too Todd," said Sheppard as he helped the injured Wraith to his feet.

"I take it mother must be nearby."

"And we are determined to get you back to her," said McKay, attacking a beacon to the Wraiths jacket.

Todd laughed with feeling. "She must have been unbearable these past few weeks."

"You have no idea," muttered Sheppard.

A single tear escaped and rolled down Todd's cheek.

"I'm sorry for what I put her through, but it was the only way I could save her and father."

"Don't worry about it buddy," said Sheppard. "For now let's get out of here and blow this place to hell."

"Sounds like a plan," said Todd as he temporarily slipped back into unconsciousness before waking again, drawing on his precious energy reserves to temporarily restore himself.

Sheppard reached out and activated the beacon, as the rest of the group activated theirs. In a flash of white light they were aboard the bridge of the _Weir_, just as alarms rang throughout the facility

* * *

The doubt that had been niggling at the hive mind had been located. Several minds had unexpectedly vanished. It took a moment for them to process and realise that these were minds that should not have vanished from the collective consciousness. The hive mind reacted as quickly as it could, orders were screamed to the nearby drones and alarms were raised. But it was already too late and the prisoner was gone.

* * *

_**Weir**_** - Bridge**

As Todd was taken to the infirmary Sheppard took command of his ship.

"Send the signal to the fleet," he ordered.

"The _Arima_ and escorts has exited hyperspace," said a crewman. "Wraith ships are moving to intercept."

Multiple hives had broken orbit to intercept the approaching enemy ship along with the myriad groups of cruisers and darts in system. Against such a resilient enemy a heavy hammer blow would be needed to deal with them without taking large losses of their smaller ships.

"De-cloak and initiate Arcturus manoeuvre," ordered Sheppard.

The Weir shimmered into visibility, facing the planet below, to the shock of the Wraith forces present. Before the enemy could even react the grodin had powered and fired a brilliant, relatively narrow, beam of energy at a structure on the surface. A structure which happened to contain the planets stargate and was situated near the drone growth facilities. The beam of energy tore through the facilities bio armour and struck the pre-targeted stargate dead on. As the gate absorbed the energy it quickly reached its saturation point and when it could absorb no more it exploded. The resulting blast wave was incredible, easily visible from orbit, the three thousand megaton blast disintegrating anything it touched. In a heart beat every drone growth building had been completely annihilated leaving behind nothing but a massive crater in the planets surface. While the blast wave was expanding the Averian fleet de-cloaked around the _Weir_ and opened fire on the Wraith ships in orbit.

"Sir," said the comm officer. "We are detecting a subspace message on an Averian frequency directed at the orbiting fleet."

Teyla's eyes fluttered as her Wraith senses picked something up.

"Something is coming," she said.

* * *

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	20. Time to fight

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Sovaer or Ronon, i wonder who would win in a fight. Well lets hope it doesn't come to that. Cliff hangers are wonderful things to use, they encourage me to keep writing. Enjoy the latest chapter, may it continue to surprise you.**

**Shadow of Realm: Ah traps, they are such delicious things.**

**eastwood6510: Cliff hanger are great are such fun to use. **

**shroud: Glad you like it.**

* * *

"Clarify," ordered Sheppard. "Where's that message going to and where is it coming from?"

"Unable to locate precise signal source sir, but it is not from within system," stated the comm officer. "Signal is being received and responded to by the Averian fleet."

"Something is coming," Teyla whispered.

While this was being contemplated the first scenes of a battle were being played out. Almost 700 Wraith cruisers and hundreds of thousands of darts had begun to bear down on the _Arima_ and her fifteen sentinels. In response Echidna had ordered the launch of every hornet she had in her fleet. But curiously the Wraith fleet was letting the traitors come to them rather than approach themselves, in fact once they had left hyperspace and returned to normal space they hadn't moved an inch forwards. Meanwhile energy bolt after energy bolt tore towards the oncoming traitor ships, the shots targeted to fire in a cluster. The ever diminishing gap between the two fleets was filled by the shower of huge energy bolts quickly traversing the distance. The approaching dart swarm quickly swerved to avoid the oncoming torrent of death and largely succeeded. The nimble fighter craft easily dodged the balls of white death and continued on towards the Matriarch fleet. The cruisers, not being as fast as the darts, were beyond the weapons effective range and were in no danger of being hurt. Since the darts were coming at the Arima and her sentinels from the wings the weapons fire had been directed at a wide area but not straight ahead. Seeing this the darts were converging into a funnel formation as they avoided the energy bolts, this meant that as they got closer and closer they were forming a huge mass that would be in a position to suicide charge the _Arima_. Since the twin queens considered the drones as expendable for the cost of destroying their enemies it was very likely that the _Arima _would be the victim of a mass kamikaze run. If that dart swarm actually hit then the Matriarch would find her new reign cut short.

* * *

In orbit of the planet however things were turning out a lot worse for the traitors. The blast wave from the stargate detonating had settled and the dust cloud was beginning to clear, revealing a huge crater that showed no signs that a Wraith structure had ever once stood there. That was just from a single shot from a single vessel, now a fleet of fifty Averian warships had de-cloaked and started to open fire on the remaining shipyards on the surface. After the Averian fleet had sneaked its way into orbit under cloak they had taken up position and began scanning the surface below, selecting their targets and targeting them accordingly. Priority targeting had been given to the weapon towers across the surface, followed by the numerous ships on the surface that were, while not complete, space worthy and capable of joining the fight. No matter the number of targets on the surface the first to go would be the defence weapons, those massive towers, while slow firing, potentially packed enough of a punch to reduce the shield strength of one of the Averian ships by half. When the orbiting fleet de-cloaked they quickly exchanged scanning data and the flagship gave orders for any unexpected priority targets. Otherwise the ships each fired on what their targeting data told them was a higher priority. Hundreds of plasma bolts rained down from orbit on to the surface of the planet, targeting every Wraith structure that had been left untouched by the blast wave. After the opening volleys every remaining defence tower had been levelled, their bio armour have been burned and, in some cases, disintegrated by the extreme heat. The devastation was not solely due to the weapons fire from the Averian's however as several weapon towers had misfired when their superstructure had been burnt through and compromised. The energy, which would otherwise safely build up in the base of the tower before being discharged in an orbital direction, tore a massive hole through the side of the tower and took the surrounding power generators down with it as the tower collapsed. The growing hive ships found themselves a little better off than the towers designed to protect them, only a few had been deemed priority targets and the others had been left entirely untouched. Those that had been targeted had only taken limited damage from the burning balls of energy that rained down on their hulls.

In response to the devastation reeked on the planets surface, courtesy of the newly appeared fleet in orbit, the hive ships that had broken orbit to assist in the destruction of the Matriarch's fleet abruptly turned around. Their own priority for ships to fight had dramatically shifted with the destruction of the planetary defences. The sixty hive ships all massed launched their personal compliment of fighters in a bid to overwhelm the powerful enemy ships. Within a couple of minutes the hangers had been emptied in their entirety, six hundred thousand darts were gathering together to attack the enemy on mass. Such a massive number would easily overwhelm any ship that even the Lanteans could have produced at their height, which made the swarm the Averian's new priority target. In response to the forces gathering against them the Averian's readied the only weapon they had to combat such a threat, while Sheppard ordered the Weir's, so far, secret weapon to be prepared for use.

* * *

The Arima and her sentinels had so far been unharmed by the approaching traitor fleet, their longer range weapons having given them the advantage in the early stages of the fight. But as the enemy fleet approached closer and closer more and more cruisers were in weapons range. Bolts of fire were now being exchanged between the two fleets, with the enhanced bio armour of Echidna's fleet weathering the storm. But despite the number of cruisers closing in on them the Matriarch's fleet continued firing on the approaching swarm of darts that was closing in on them. As the mass fleet of cruisers and darts approached they were being forced into a funnel as they struggled to avoid the oncoming enemy fire power. The funnel was becoming tighter and tighter as the fleet got closer but it was eventually going to reach its target, the _Arima_. All enemy ships were now focusing their fire on the _Arima_ in a bid to weaken the armour before impact. It was a rather pointless gesture, because if even a small number of cruisers and darts in the approaching darts impacted then the Wraith flagship would be annihilated. The enhanced bio armour that would normally dissipate energy upon impact would be torn open and rendered useless when the approaching swarm hit. The Matriarchs fleet focused their fire more inwards, desperately trying to stem the tide of ships bearing down on the flagship, but to no avail. The funnel tip was too close and the firing arc too narrow for the fleet and now all seemed lost, it was only a matter of time before impact. If only the Arima had started firing forwards from the word go in a bid to destroy anything that tried to get close to the flagship, but they hadn't. If only the swarms of hornets had not avoided the more numerous darts in favour of attacking the cruisers on mass, but they hadn't. And now the end result was that the hornets were crippling vulnerable cruisers on the outskirts of the formation where there was no dart cover, and there was a mass swarm of darts, clustered together and all bearing down on the Arima. It was like something out a nightmare and, unbeknownst to the twins, was all according to plan. Which was why, right in front of the _Arima_ in the one spot that wasn't being saturated by energy pulses, the Asgard warship _O'Neill_ de-cloaked, raised its shields and very quickly began diverting weapons power to the tip of the nose section.

* * *

The twin queens mentally smirked as they watched the swarm of cruisers and darts approach the _Arima_. Hundreds of darts had already been lost to the defensive fire, the weak minded drone pilots unable to dodge the energy bolts in time or fail to avoid hitting their brethren in a bid to avoid the energy pulse. Dozens of cruisers had also been destroyed, lacking point defence weapons, relying on darts for this purpose, and unable to withstand the onslaught of the massed hornets that had made them their prey. Even now more were being lost, as the stragglers that had had the furthest to come were being picked off by the roving swarms before they even got within weapons range of the enemy fleet.

But that did not matter to them. They would sacrifice thousands of darts and hundreds of cruisers if it meant they could finally be rid of their mother. Without her the others that followed her would fall into disarray. They would not be as organised as they would with her leading them and they desperately needed order if they were to re-order their society in order to survive. This would only be the beginning, they would build on another world, start anew, rebuild their forces, but first they must see to it that their mother dies here today.

And soon that hope would come to pass, the swarm was getting nearer. There was nothing standing between it and the Arima. Their mother would be killed for sure.

So they stopped giving orders to those drones and let them continue on their way, and focused on better co-ordinating the hives and the darts bearing down on the fleet that had destroyed their fortress world. Steps would have to be taken next time to stop such a surprise attack from happening again. Perhaps having the defence fleet create a sensor net around the system? It did not matter. It was a thought for later. For now they must focus on the immediate threat. The enemy ships were clearly powerful, but not to worry they could always retreat. It wasn't like their mother would survive to rally forces against them. They were certain of it.

This was why, when the Asgard warship suddenly appeared and opened fire on the swarm, they froze in shock.

* * *

When the Asgard had gone into hiding they had first focused on dealing with the crisis at hand, namely the problem of solving their genetic degradation. But when the new android bodies had been completed they had set about upgrading their fleet to assist in the fight against the Ori. Of course by the time the upgrades had been completed the last Ori mothership had left the Milky Way and the galaxy had been freed from their stranglehold. But the upgrades were still apart of the fleet. The _Valhalla_, which had been designed with the new technologies from the ground up, received no upgrades. The science ships, received cloaking technologies and nothing else, they were after all not meant for combat purposes. The _Beliskner_'s received cloaks and basic plasma beam weapons, giving them back the sting they had lost during Anubis's uprising. The _O'Neill_'s were also given cloaks and basic plasma beam weapons, and one other upgrade. An upgrade which was about to be put into use against the approaching swarm of traitor ships, a single massive plasma beam cannon that boasted one and a half times the power of that mounted on the Tau'ri Pegasus-class.

* * *

When the Asgard warship de-cloaked right between the Arima and the oncoming swarm of darts and cruisers the drone crews didn't know how to react. Awaiting new orders from their queens they simply kept the ships moving forwards, determined to smash their way past this new obstacle and reach their target. The new arrival wasn't even firing at them despite the large and easily noticeable energy cannons that it possessed. What wasn't apparent to them was that large amounts of power were being transferred to the ships forward beam emitter and it wasn't until the swarm was upon them that the warship fired.

When the weapon finally discharged it briefly sent out a blue beam of pure energy straight ahead. The beam lasted for just a few seconds, long enough to cut its way through the entire length of the swarm with the bio armour of any Wraith ships not even offering the least bit of resistance. Darts were disintegrated before they could even explode and cruisers were burned beyond recognition, leaving behind nothing but charred husks. And that was just the ones that had taken direct hits, there were lots of others had been clipped by the pillar of plasma. Darts were ripped apart by the searing heat while cruisers had entire sections scorched away. Just as the first of the explosions started the warship fired again. Another pillar of plasma briefly lanced out at the swarm, then another and another. A total of six beams lanced out at the swarm, expanding the circle of destruction. Then the warships engines powered up and the vessel charged forward into the gap created.

* * *

The hive mind screamed with the queen's fury as the alien warship fired beam number seven at the swarm, before surging forward.

This was impossible!

Such a ship had never been seen before. It was so…so alien. And it was deadly.

They snarled as the ship started to employ its other weapons against the remainder of the swarm. Massive bolts of energy shot from the ships four energy cannons, decimating anything in their path, darts, cruisers, none were spared. Smaller blue beams, like those used by the cursed Tau'ri, lanced out destroying cruiser after cruiser. Worse though were the spotlights of white light which swept across space and caused dart after dart to just vanish if they fell under the lights gaze for even a moment.

The bodies of the twin queens twitched in their two thrones aboard their personal flagship, sitting amongst a group of guardian hive ships. At a glance the difference in the ships design from the others around it might go unnoticed, but if your eyes lingered for but a moment you would immediately spot that the middle section was solid rather than empty. This section was a special modification that only featured on this prototype and featured the same bio-technology not unlike that used in their power generation buildings on the planet. They snarled again, former buildings on the planet. But the upgrade meant the hive ship was stronger and faster than any others that they would have to face.

They now had a choice to make. They could not deal with both the human vessels and the warship that was decimating their forces attacking the _Arima_. They frowned, they had instructed the swarm to start targeting the alien warship but the typical tactics weren't having much effect against the surprisingly manoeuvrable behemoth. The ship was weaving its way though around the swarm as the ships attempted to change their heading to target the cursed thing. But even the suicide runs of the darts seemed to be to no avail as they were swept clean from space by those infernal lights before they could even impact the ships incredibly resilient shields. Worse still the Arima and her sentinels were continuing to saturate the swarm with energy bolt after energy bolt, while hornets continued to pick off the straggling cruisers that had yet again failed to join the swarm. It was a complete mess. With the alien warship tying up their forces and locking them in position, all the while the hornets were slaughtering any ships that tried to build up the centre or break away and the _Arima_ and her sentinels acting as long range artillery.

The best that they could hope for now was to kill their mother and then retreat with what forces they could. If they could inflict some damage on the human vessels then that would be a bonus. There were already forty hive ships approaching the humans and their own flagship was a part of the group of twenty that was now continuing to approach their mother. Darts would not be of much against something that simply swept them away in a ray of white light so they continued on to face the human menace, all six hundred thousand of them.

* * *

The dart mass was definitely going to be a problem for the _Weir_ and the Averian's. The _Arima_ and her escorts had been looking at hell when she was only being targeted by twenty one thousand, and now the humans were facing a force nearly thirty times larger. Of course the Asgard making their surprise appearance had thrown the fight in Echidna's favour but the humans had thrown every ship they had into the fight from the word go in order to obliterate the planet based defences. Luckily they had been holding back in their use of weapons, and they were about to unleash their own surprise on the approaching wall of darts. From the seven launchers on back of the _Weir_, that so far had seen no use, launched a swarm of silvery, white glowing drones. On the Averian warships however panels slid open on the sides of the ships revealing the hidden weapon nests beneath. Missiles sprung from the launch tubes at the swarm of darts, joining the smaller number of drones that had been unleashed on the approaching darts. Instinct told the darts that the drones would be the things to watch out for and they never gave the approaching missiles a second thought. So while a few of their number started to target the missiles the majority of the front runners targeted the drones. The drones and missiles appeared to be matching each other for speed and presumably would hit at the same time. It was just as the darts were about to enter weapon range that that assumption was proved to be wrong. The nose cones of the missiles popped open and ejected their payload, a flurry of mini drone like objects accelerated forwards to the shock and horror of the drone pilots. The mini drones packed a relatively small explosive charge but when fired on mass the approaching darts were smothered in the charges. Confusion reigned as the darts swerved to avoid the hail of drones and the wreckage from their companions craft, forgetting the objects heading towards them. Then the remaining bits of the missiles and the Tau'ri drones hit the swarm. The missile sections detonated on impact, as did the drones. The missile sections explosions were tiny though in comparison to the truly frightening explosions from the drones.

The drones may look like their Alteran designed counterparts but they were very different. Remote controlled and highly manoeuvrable, the Tau'ri versions lacked the phase technology and energy field that would allow them to drill through barriers or the energy core explosive. All of these were beyond current technological understanding for even the Asgard and could not be copied and duplicated using Asgard matter replication. The Tau'ri versions did however feature a little creative innovation for the explosive charge, a large chunk of naquadah and potassium that would combine on impact with a target. When two chunks this large contacted each other they would create an incredibly violent explosion comparable to small nuke. Unfortunately a lot of these weapons had just detonated across the length of the mass of darts and the results were catastrophic. The explosion was one thing, tens of thousands of darts were wiped out when the drones detonated, but the blast wave was absolute hell. Thousands of darts were flung away from the explosion, caught on the shockwave and sent colliding into others nearby, which in turn were sent careening into others in a cascade effect. A debris field had been created between the humans and the surviving mass of darts and the humans took full advantage of it.

All ships opened fire with everything they had, holding back on beam and ballistic weapons. Plasma cannons, ion cannons, railguns, all fired at the temporarily halted darts while fighters were launched. One hundred and twenty eight F-302's and one thousand five hundred of the Averian's arrow head shaped fighters all left their hangers and formed up around the human fleet. The approaching hive ships were almost in weapon range and knowing they couldn't take them and the darts the Tau'ri decided to play one of their last cards, they used nukes. In small flashes of light that would have otherwise gone unnoticed against the back drop of stars and space a half dozen mark IX nuclear warheads appeared just in front of the debris field. Three seconds after they re-materialised the warheads detonated. The expanding blast wave claiming anything within a hundred mile radius of the warhead before it detonated, nothing survived. The debris field had been obliterated as had almost all of the darts, the mindless pilots lacking the foresight and intuition that came with free will to think to avoid the ballistic weapons coming against them. The twin queen's paranoid and near megalomaniac insistence on having obedient slaves had been their undoing. The surviving darts, the few that there were, were quickly picked off by the human fighter craft as they attempted to recover from the devastating strike.

In that regard they had been lucky, the enemy fighter craft had been largely stunned or wiped out by the devastating nuclear blast waves making them easy prey, but now the hive ships had moved into weapons range. When the hive ships started sending bolt after bolt of energy into the human vessels it seemed their luck was starting to run out.

* * *

As the twin queens own fleet of twenty hive ships made it into weapons range they started firing at the Asgard warship with impunity. In an impressive display of manoeuvrability the ship swung around the swarm, using the mass formation of cruisers and darts as cover. Not that that stopped the twins, in fact they didn't even hesitate for a moment. Darts and cruisers were obliterated in short order and the shields of the Asgard vessel were once again being pounded on.

"Status report," demanded Thor as the vessel shook again from the impact of multiple blasts.

"Shields at 70%, 69%" an Asgard corrected as the ship shook, again.

The shields on the Asgard warship were incredibly powerful, fifty percent stronger than those on the _Weir_. As it stood the ship could be hit by four hundred and fifty of the Wraiths energy blasts and still come out strong. Unfortunately the Wraith hive ships were unleashing dozens of blasts at the warship with every volley and the constant strain was starting to take it toll.

"All weapons fire at will, target the hive ships," ordered Thor. "Beam collectors continue targeting the darts. Helm, lets take the fight to them. Tell Echidna we'll deal with the hives."

"Aye sir," was the reply from the bridge crew.

The warship swerved hard avoiding another few blasts of firepower and then charged forwards, right through the swarm of Wraith ships. Beam collectors swept away the darts before them while plasma beams sliced the cruisers apart. The Asgard warship had no hesitation about smashing its way through the enemy lines when the Wraith themselves were helping by blowing away their own ships, clearing the way. The ship quickly punched through the enemy lines and was tearing its way towards the hive ships, dodging energy blasts as best it could. The warship quickly reached the fleet of hives and began opening fire. Plasma beam after plasma beam tore away at the hive bio armour, causing massive damage with every hit, and when the main cannon occasionally fired a kill was guaranteed. The rapid firing energy cannons struck the hives with impunity while the warship ducked and weaved its way between the much larger hive ships, using their own bulk against them. Shots were being exchanged on both sides but it was the Asgard who was winning, so far. Of the twenty hives that had originally made up the fleet three were burning husks, five had taken massive damage and two had been sliced in half.

* * *

The queens snarled. The enemy thought they were making fools of them but it was they who would have the last laugh. The alien warship had broken away from its duty of herding the swarm and now the darts and cruisers were free to continue their previous mission. So with nothing to hold them back the twin queens ordered the cruisers to continue forwards and attack the _Arima_, all according to their plan.

The darts and cruisers surged towards the _Arima_ once again. The _Arima_ had managed to back off while they were occupied by the _O'Neill_ but now there was nothing between them and the flagship.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Weir_ Sheppard swore as the ship was struck yet again, but it was not the incoming fire that caused his anger. ISIS was projecting a map of the battlefield in front of him and he had noticed the mass of cruisers and darts all charging forwards towards the _Arima_. The entire fleet was being saturated by the enemy fire power and the Averian ships were taking the worst of it, their weaker shields unable to hold out against the sustained firing for long. Ten hive ships had leapt on the Weir while the other thirty had started pounding the Averian's. With the ability to collapse the shields of an Averian warship in only two volleys they had no need to team up to take on the enemy. The Averian's meanwhile were fighting back in teams of three to deal with the enemy hives they were confronting while a group of five were trying to take the heat off of the _Weir_. The moment an Averian ship lost shields it hastily retreated behind a companion in a bid to stay alive and cloaked but it was not always successful. Four ships that had been caught in the opening shots had been obliterated, being unlucky enough to be the only targets available to the thirty approaching hive ships. If the _Daedalus_ and the _Apollo_ hadn't made their appearance when the hives started to get close they would have been in real trouble. The very second that the first of the hive ships started to fire the two battle cruisers had de-cloaked right above them and started firing. Two hives had quickly succumbed to the opening shots and had violently detonated.

When an Averian group fired on a hive it died, only their plasma beams were being used against the enemy and the results were always explosive. They weren't taking prisoners and they weren't holding back, not in this battle. The _Weir_ didn't even need the Averian ships supporting her, her own plasma beams were slicing two hives apart in a single volley, while the ion turrets helped finish off whatever the Averian's fired at, and when the main weapon fired a hive was split in half. Her Averian escorts quickly broke away to help their comrades, seeing that the _Weir_ was going to deal more damage than she took. The rest of the hive ships were quickly being dispatched but the fleet was suffering for it even with their fighters attacking the hives on mass. Seven Averian ships were dead, another five were on the verge of being evacuated having taken enough damage to cripple them. A dozen more had lost shields and had been forced to pull away from the fight.

* * *

Echidna was growing desperate. She was firing everything forward that she could while the _Arima_ attempted to fall back. The hornets had been re-tasked to chasing down the oncoming darts that were dodging energy bolts with ease. In an act of sheer desperation the sentinels positioned themselves between the _Arima_ and the approaching swarm. Unfortunately that did little good when they were rammed. Acting under a pre-programmed protective instinct the ships dived in front of the Arima to protect her from being rammed. As thousands of darts and dozens of cruisers struck them explosions rippled across the surface of the living ships, their bio armour being torn apart by the explosions and debris. Four ships were heavily damaged to the point where they were practically out of the fight and another five came away missing sections of their hull. None were destroyed outright but that was only because the Wraith were saving their numbers for when they hit the _Arima_. The sentinels sacrifice had bought the Arima some time, but the rest of the swarm was getting closer. It was when they were almost upon her that Echidna relented and relaxed her mind enough to detect something on the edge of her senses.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Weir_ though, Teyla was still battling with making sense of the telepathic signals she was getting. Something was pushing at her mind, some force was approaching that was giving off enough of a telepathic field to tap at her senses. It felt familiar. It felt…Wraith. It was Wraith. The Wraith were coming!

"Wraith," she yelled. "Wraith are coming!"

The rest of the bridge crew barely even reacted. They were busy dealing with the Wraith right in front of them. Sheppard on the other hand turned to look at her.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Rather pointlessly as it turned out because the Wraith promptly made their appearance. A massive hyperspace window tore open and deposited a large Wraith fleet. To make matters worse they appeared right behind and above the Matriarchs own fleet.

"Oh crap."

* * *

The Wraith drones in the swarm hesitated when the armada appeared near their prey. From their point of view of those piloting darts the fleet was massive, consisting of tens of hives and hundreds of cruisers, not to mention the huge numbers of darts being launched.

Seizing the opportunity, in a desperate bid to survive the Arima retreated directed all available power to retreating downwards, away from the swarm.

* * *

"Who are you?" enquired the twin queens, and Echidna.

"We are here to finish what has been started. We are here to protect. We are here to fight."

"Fight who?" asked Echidna and the queens, their curiosity following the same lines.

"Those who would harm our way of life. Those who would change the way that we are. Those who would go against the order of things."

The twins mentally smirked when they sensed their mother cringing at the ships presence.

"Then do what you must," they said.

"We intend to."

By now all the darts had been launched and were diving towards the _Arima_, hundreds of thousands of them. Chasing after them were the cruisers and moving forwards were the hives. Like winged death the fleet approached from above, trapping the Arima between them and the swarm approaching from the front. Closer and closer they got, nearer and nearer until finally they were close enough. And now that they were in range to fire to fire, they did. The dart swarm levelled out, their weapons primed and opened fire on their enemy. As space rippled with explosions shock and horror spread across the Wraith psychic link. The new arrivals had opened fire, with everything they had, on the traitor fleet.

* * *

Sheppard smirked when he received the numbers of the newly arrived fleet and heard the conversation, courtesy of Teyla. 31 hives, 293 cruisers and an excess of over 310,000 darts, the exact composition of the Wraith scout fleet that Echidna had ordered to stay out of the fight.

When he heard the twins arrogant order to attack he couldn't help but laugh, they wouldn't know what them until it was too late.

When the scout fleets dart swarm started firing the traitor swarm was annihilated, a couple thousand darts and a few dozen cruisers against over three thousand darts, it was no contest really. As the cruisers got closer they took up position around the _Arima_, acting as a sacrificial shield should the enemy hives think to try their luck against the Wraith flagship. The hive ships joined the sentinels and advanced on the traitor fleet, with the darts heading to join the hornets.

* * *

"Why?" screamed the twins.

"We do what we must to protect our mother."

"Why her? Why follow her?"

"Because she is our mother, our Matriarch, our saviour from the endless hunger that once cursed us. You should not have tried to harm her. Now we will kill you for it."

"If it's any consolation," added Echidna. "I told them to stay out of this fight. It seems they decided to disobey me."

"If you would order us not to protect you mother," said her children. "Then you should know that we will always disobey."

"You are so like your brother," Echidna mused.

"He knew what he was doing mother. Thanks to him we can destroy those that would harm you. Now this ends."

The hives, the sentinels, the darts and the hornets, they all fired with impunity at the traitor hives. The cruisers and the Arima charged forward to assist. The fighting was almost entirely one sided, with the sentinels taking point and their incredibly resilient bio armour absorbing hits with ease. The lead traitor hives became fireballs within seconds of the first shots being fired from the capital ships. The hornets and darts attacked on mass burning through hive ships with hardly any effort as the hulls were saturated with energy fire. Almost the entire hull of the hives attacked by these swarms was burned away as they were completely covered in energy blasts. It was frightening to watch as the wave of destruction covered the traitor fleet. Hive after hive burned in space to almost no loss in return, the sheer amount of firepower being unleashed on the enemy overwhelming them before they had a chance to get off even a few return shots. Eventually the enemy got smart and started targeting the more damaged sentinels before their wounds could close and their armour harden again. Three sentinels were forced out of the fight this way, too heavily wounded and with the _Arima_'s safety assured they halted their advance and focused their energy on healing their wounds.

* * *

Soon there were only seven hives left, with one of them being the twin's flagship. The twins knew this fight was lost but they had no intention of dying here. Commanding the other four hives to act as a shield they turned and fled. Those loyal to their mother tried to get past and reach the enemy before they escaped but to no avail. In a flash the twins, with two hives as escorts, fled into hyperspace and escaped with their lives.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Weir_ everyone was finally starting to relax. The last of the enemy ships were being mopped up by Echidna and her children, the other hives having long since been destroyed by them and the Averian's. There had been a price to pay but they had won. Unfortunately they had not been able to stop the twins from escaping but they could be dealt with later.

It was when the Averian's rapidly collected their fighters and began to depart that alarm bells were raised and people realised something was wrong.

"Where are they going?" Sheppard wondered aloud, just as Sovaer ran onto the bridge.

"Colonel," he yelled as he grappled with the four marines that were trying to restrain him, his sudden appearance having triggered a reflex action in the bridge guards.

"Let him go," ordered Sheppard. "Now calm down and tell me what's wrong?"

The guards released him and he took a breath before speaking.

"I decoded the transmission, Averia is under attack."


	21. Time to finish

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: I'm glad you enjoy it, i know that you have a better grasp of all these aspects than i do so i greatly appreciate your praise. Enjoy your character.**

**Shadow of Realm: I'm calling it an energy discharge wave caused by the naquadah in the bomb. And who indeed.**

**DaletheChu: What can i say i love cliffhangers, they are brilliant ways of keeping a reader hooked. But i will always try to resolve the previous cliffhanger before giving you a different one.**

**Andriabow: Glad you liked it, and yeah it sucks the twins get away. But its a hallmark of a good villian to always have a plan to get the heck out of dodge.**

**Kineticwing: Thank you, i'm glad you were able to see it so well. One of the problems of going from a tv based show is to make sure you are adding just enough detail.**

**Jedi Carpet: I know what you mean, that last chapter turned out much longer than i thought it would when i started writing it.**

**StargateFFWriter: The Averians are a relatively young, ambitious and complicated race who believe it is their duty laid down to them by the Lanteans to rid the galaxy of the race.**

**shroud: Glad i could clear up your misunderstanding.**

* * *

"What do you mean Averia is under attack?" asked Sheppard sceptically. "Who is there to even attack you?"

"The report only stated that the enemy is unknown to us," replied Sovaer.

"Oh brilliant another one of those," Sheppard muttered. "I take it things aren't going to well if your fleet is bugging out at this speed."

By now the Averian fleet had collected all of their fighters and had fled into hyperspace, including the damaged ships so presumably they would undergo hasty repairs on the way. In a way they had been lucky, after the first four ships had been destroyed the others had started to fall back when they lost shields and try to repair them before engaging the enemy again. Using this attack and retreat method only seven ships had been lost, while another five had taken mild to heavy damage which presumably meant they were only going to acting as carriers. In the case of ships that had lost shields, and there had been quite a few towards the end of the fight, would be a relatively easy to repair.

"It was a warning signal. It just means there are hostile forces in Averian space," said Sovaer. "At this point we don't know whether or not there even is still a battle going on."

"Why do I sense a but coming up?"

"But if the signal is still transmitting it probably means there is, or the enemy is regrouping," Sovaer grudgingly admitted.

"Admiral Durra seems to think so if he is willing to leave you with us," Sheppard pointed out. "So what are we supposed to do now, drop you at the Vanir homeworld?"

"That's certainly one option," said Sovaer.

When he didn't say anything for a while Sheppard studied his expression. Clearly Sovaer wanted to say more but couldn't, which meant only one thing.

"You want us to go help," Sheppard stated.

Sovaer nodded.

"So why not just ask us? We are willing to help our allies."

Sovaer grimaced, "Because it against our highest laws to reveal the location of our homeworld without authorisation. To do so could mean the death of us all."

"Crap," said Sheppard. "I take it the punishment for doing so isn't light."

Sovaer simply shook his head, his face grim.

"I think I might have a solution," said McKay, who had been manning a terminal throughout the conversation.

"What?" asked Sovaer and Sheppard.

"We can track the fleet," said McKay. "All we have to do is follow them and they should lead us right to Averia, assuming that's where they're going. But we better leave soon or we're going to lose them."

"This ship can track others through hyperspace?" asked Sovaer, surprised at the advanced nature of their technology.

"You better believe it," said Sheppard. "Com, inform Echidna we'll be taking Todd with us, he's better off staying in our infirmary and wish her good hunting. Helm set a course to follow that fleet."

"Aye sir."

When Sovaer still looked uncomfortable Sheppard added. "If it makes you feel any better we're doing this because we want to, not because you'd like us to."

"Echidna is acknowledging," said the com officer.

"Helm, take us into hyperspace."

A hyperspace window tore open and the _Weir_ dived into it, chasing after the Averian fleet.

* * *

In the ships infirmary Todd was resting on a bed, hooked up to an IV line. During his time in captivity he had been denied the type of food to which he had become accustomed to and he was dangerously dehydrated. Luckily though he was a Wraith, his physiology meant that he was capable of surviving for a fair amount of time without food. The regular beatings and torture sessions had taxed him however, as his ability to heal and recover depended on having suitable stores of energy in his body. Ironically the thing that had kept him alive was having his life force stolen and then replenished, the restoration of his body having dampened the effects of hunger and shored up his energy reserves. Now though he was taking the chance to replenish those same energy reserves and was feasting on the delights being brought to him from the galley, Doctor Keller insisting he stay in the infirmary until he was stabilised.

As he devoured dish after high calorie dish he was also taking the time to chat telepathically with his mother. She had started the conversation when Sheppard had requested taking him with them, and had only consented once he had assured her that the humans were currently taking care of him and he would be fine. The _Arima_'s telepathic signal boosters made it possible for them to establish a connection even while Todd was travelling further and further away.

"How is your meal, my son?" asked Echidna.

"Very much enjoyable. It's nice to have a good meal after so long," Todd replied

"You really shouldn't have allowed yourself to be captured for my sake," said Echidna crossly.

"That isn't what I meant when I said so long mother."

"Then what did you mean?" asked Echidna, puzzled.

"I meant that I was growing sick of those rations that we've been eating," Todd replied with a chuckle.

"Hmm, is that so," Echidna grumbled.

"Indeed."

"So it wasn't a slight at my attempts to cook a meal for us?" she asked accusingly, remembering how disastrously that attempt had gone. The human chefs in the galley had tried very hard to be diplomatic and not laugh at the results, they hadn't succeeded.

"Absolutely not," said Todd, innocently.

"Well things have progressed rather well in your absence. We're expecting the first crops to be ready soon so we should eventually have a regular supply of food."

"What about meat?" asked Todd, while biting into a piece of steak.

"Many of the worlds with established outposts have many native animals, if we limiting out hunting we can make sure they last."

"What of that world the humans suggested for hunting?" recalling the dinosaur world that he had once briefly visited, very briefly as he recalled.

"I'm only sending large numbers there, the creatures are very dangerous. I'm recommending only using darts to capture the smaller creatures."

"The larger ones would be better, they will provide us with much greater amounts and a higher quality."

"I know, and some of them actually want to try hunting the things. I'm allowing it but only large numbers armed with stun cannons, and a cruiser to support them."

"Sounds like a good idea. It sounds like they are getting restless."

"They are. Looking for you gave them something to do but I'm worried if this is the result of their restlessness," said Echidna, her tone matching her words.

Todd snorted. "You really underestimate your children mother. I heard them you know, they came here to make sure you made it out alive."

"I did order them not to," Echidna replied crossly.

"An order they were never going to follow. They would never forgive me if you died because of me."

"My aim was to save you. Stopping your sisters was a bonus."

"And my aim was to save you. Making it out alive was a bonus," Todd retorted. "They feel a sense of duty and so do I. We will always do what is necessary to preserve the existence of our Matriarch, and you are the only one we have or want."

"Well I intend to finish this now," Echidna replied firmly.

"Tell them goodbye from me."

* * *

**Unknown area of empty space **

Three hive ships were resting in space, their hulls saturated in radiation from travelling in hyperspace for an extended period. One of the hives was different from the other two, as its central area was a section of the ship rather than being a gap in the ship. These ships represented the only survivors of the twin queen's once proud and mighty fleet of ships and they were running for their lives. The ships had only just recently dropped out of hyperspace, their hulls having been weakened from the battle they had just participated in which meant they could not tolerate a very high radiation build up. But even the relatively short hyperspace journey had meant that they were quite a good distance away from the system they had just come and should be relatively safe. For the mean time they would take the chance to have their hulls regenerate and heal the wounds from battle. The enemy, after all, shouldn't have been able to track them whilst they travelled through hyperspace right? Wrong as it turned out, so very wrong indeed.

Behind them a very large hyperspace window tore open and out dropped the _Arima_, the mighty Wraith flagship being towed in a tractor beam by the Asgard warship _O'Neill_.

The reaction from the twins was immediate, shock, horror and absolute terror. One question arose from the frantic panic of the hive mind, how? How had they been found?

"Because you underestimate your enemy my daughters," said Echidna, answering their question. "You underestimate their resolve, their determination and you were foolish enough to believe that it was only humans who wished to see your end. Did you really think we would just let you two go if we had no way to find you?"

"The warship?" was the only reply as realization sunk in.

"It belongs to a race called the Asgard. They are a great and noble people and quite possibly the worst people for you to have angered."

"Indeed," said the voice of Supreme Commander Thor, courtesy of Typhoeus converting the subspace transmission into a telepathic one and vice versa.

To prove the point the main plasma cannon on the O'Neill briefly fired twice, slicing the two regular hive ships in half with barely any effort. The resulting explosions scorching the sides of the twins own ships, and causing serious damage to the already weakened ship. The worse thing though was that the beaming jammers aboard the hive were temporarily disabled until the additional power generators unique to the ship started providing them with power. This fact was very quickly noticed by the Asgard.

"For your actions," continued Thor. "You would receive death at our hands. However the decision resides with your mother who wishes you to live."

The twins breathed a momentary sigh of relief until Echidna added, "For now."

The twins desperately started turning to broadside the Arima, knowing that they would be unable to destroy the Asgard ship but against their mother they had a small chance. In response the Arima fired at the enemies engines. A few short bursts of pure energy struck the side of the ship tearing through the weakened bio armour and silencing the engines. Meanwhile the Asgard warship moved above the enemy ship and surgically cut out the section containing the additional power generators using plasma beams.

With the ships beaming jammers completely disabled the Asgard promptly started beaming out everyone onboard and the twins were beamed to separate holding cells on the _Arima_. Over the next hour the enemy ship was boarded and the contents plundered. The databanks were emptied and the samples of various growth enzymes that the twins had developed taken. The research that would have been used for evil would serve to strengthen the new Wraith Empire. Once everything of value had been taken from the ship the Arima finished the job it had started and mercilessly destroyed the twin's flagship. With their task complete the ships headed back to the system they had just left to collect the sentinels that were beginning clean up operations.

The fate of the twins may have been unknown to them but Echidna had already decided once she had seen the creations they had designed. An unfortunate fact about Wraith technology was that it required the sacrifice of a living creature to construct a hive ship or a building. The twins had tried to address this issue by building a cloning facility to create blank drones without a consciousness. One of the twins would become such a building, while the other would become the new hub for ship construction, the very same type of building that Todd had been rescued from. It would be their punishment to aid the new Wraith Empire so that no innocent life had to be needlessly sacrificed just for another ship or another building.

* * *

**Admiral Durra's Flagship – Bridge**

On board the Averian ship Admiral Durra was attempting to gain contact with his homeworld, unfortunately he wasn't having much luck. It seemed that enemy jamming attempts, while not being entirely successful, had limited the transmitting range of the Averian homeworld. They knew this because they were still receiving the alert beacon but it had been weakened more than it should be at this range.

"Any luck," he asked, again.

"No sir."

Durra swore under his breath. "Keep trying."

"Unbelievable, the one place I want to talk to and I can't," he muttered. "Of course if I wanted to contact _Hope_ then I would have no problem…"

He snapped his fingers as an idea hit him.

"Cancel that last order," he ordered. "Contact _Hope_ station and get me Admiral Xander."

"Contact established sir."

On the bridge main screen appeared the image of man wearing a similar uniform to Durra. The man was middle aged with dark hair, steely eyes and a warm smile.

"Ah hello Bovin," said Xander. "I figured you'd be calling sometime soon. How did the attack go?"

"Rather well all things considered," Durra replied calmly, mirroring the other Admirals tone. "We lost seven ships but no amazingly no fighter losses. We have a few injured on other ships but it could have been a lot worse. I'm guessing things aren't as bad as I think at home?"

"It's rather strange actually," replied Xander with a puzzled expression. "Reports are telling us that a fleet appears to be massing on the system edge. We've detected numerous hyperspace windows opening but we can't get a fix on their numbers. The first lot arrived and performed a scan of the system before retreating inside the Brier's nebula. We've seen a few ships pop their heads out occasionally but all the others are arriving in the nebula."

The Brier's nebula was actually rather famous. A long time ago a scout ship captain named Brier's had made an attempt of mapping the inside of the nebula. It was already known that the nebula blocked most sensors and made it impossible to detect anything inside, the only thing that could detect was when a hyperspace window opened and there was a brief shift in the nebula when the particles were sucked away. Even then it had still taken them a long time to realise that and they wouldn't have done if Brier's ship hadn't gotten lost in the nebula. The ship had been somewhere towards near the middle of the nebula when her navigational systems failed, now normally they would just switch to manual control and head in one direction but gravitational anomalies in the nebula threw them off course without their knowing it. The scout was only equipped for a short burst hyperspace journey, this being the early days of the Averian's attempts in interstellar travel and was not powerful enough to get them out of the rather large nebula. After realising that his crew would eventually run out of supplies or go stir crazy it was decided to give it a shot. Outside the nebula the Averian's had been attempting to find their missing ship by concentrating their scans, it was by sheer luck that they recognized a hyperspace window opening and realised they had found the area of the scout ship. Another ship sent in, with shields on full just in case, and it was only a matter of time before the scout ship was shown the way home.

"They also seem to be blocking our communications," said Durra. "I can contact you but can't through to Averia."

Xander frowned. "They must be dampening the transmissions."

"I figured as much, any activity on your front?"

"None so far but quite frankly I'll be surprised if they attack the planet in the first place, with such a small fleet. Averia's defences should hold back the ship numbers we believe they have."

He wasn't wrong. The planet was protected by a powerful web of defensive weapons, both ground and orbital based. Then there was the planetary defence shield courtesy of a massive number of generators and orbital shield emitters. The shield used the energy wall shield variant that was also found on _Atlantis_. The basic principle was that a solid wall of energy of certain strength was generated but the drawback was that it required a lot of power and could only stop so much energy before it was overwhelmed and penetrated. The Tau'ri were actually theorising that a similar design had been utilised on Ori motherships, hence the reason that APB's had literally gone right through them because of the concentrated burst of constant energy.

"I agree it does seem strange."

"Well to be on the safe side two assault groups were sent to reinforce the forces there."

"I'm on my way there now, how long until they arrive?"

"They should be there in an…"

Xander never got to finish before the transmission suddenly degraded before cutting out.

"What happened?" shouted Durra.

"The transmission was severed at the source sir. Judging by the sudden drop in signal strength it's possible it was jammed."

"Damn it, it was a trap," Durra muttered angry. "Divert our course to _Hope_ station and prepare for battle."

"Aye sir."

* * *

_**Weir**_** – Bridge**

"Sir the Averian fleet has altered heading."

"Match them," Sheppard ordered.

"Aye sir, adjusting heading."

Sovaer looked puzzled by the sudden course change. "Is the distress signal still broadcasting?"

"Confirmed, signal is still broadcasting," said the com officer.

"Can you display the original course?" asked Sovaer.

The HUD brought up a star map with a red line running along it, the red line being the vector heading of the Averian fleet.

"Now overlay the new course heading?"

The new line appeared in blue on the map, it was similar to the old course but deviated slightly.

Sovaer grimaced when he glanced at one area of the map where the blue line crossed a small star system.

"Oh no."

"What is it?" asked Sheppard.

"It's a trap. They're heading to a space station instead of our home system."

"What's so special about this space station?" asked McKay.

"It's a fall back point in case Averia is lost. It's also our only major base off world, if we lose that then we are effectively crippled," replied Sovaer.

"Why are you telling us all this?" asked McKay. "If it's so important wouldn't you want to keep it secret?"

"If that base is under attack then we will need all the help we can get to keep it intact. Whoever is attacking has to be a major threat," he explained.

"Then we better make sure you don't lose it," said Sheppard. "Open a channel to the Averian flagship."

"Aye sir."

The star map was replaced by the image of Admiral Durra.

"Colonel Sheppard," said Durra. "I'm sorry for our hasty departure but we have urgent matters to attend to."

"I know," said Sheppard. "You're under attack."

Durra's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

"They detected the signal and I decrypted it," Sovaer answered.

"You know our laws Sovaer," Durra replied angrily.

"He didn't break any of your laws," said Sheppard. "We're following you."

"How?" asked Durra.

"We have the technology," said McKay.

"Then do you know where we are going?" asked Durra.

Sheppard shrugged. "Some important base of yours, presumably it was the real target and the attack on your homeworld was a diversion."

Durra stared pointedly at Sovaer. "Then you know why I can't let you know the location."

"If that base can be destroyed how long before Averia falls?" asked Sovaer angrily. "You know as well as I do that we designed Hope as our fall back in case something happens to Averia, not the other way around. We need their help."

Durra's stern gaze flickered slightly. "On behalf of the Averian people I am officially ratifying the mutual defence clause of the treaty between our two worlds, any objections?"

"None," replied Sheppard.

"Then I am officially requesting that you follow my fleet to Hope station to assist in its defence."

"I'm acknowledging your request and will follow your fleet."

"We should be there in fifteen minutes," said Durra. "I suggest you get ready."

"How did they find your station?" asked McKay. "This place is supposed to be a highly secure station so how did they find it?"

"I don't know," said Durra.

"Could they have tracked our ships?" asked Sovaer.

"It's possible," said Durra. "It hasn't stopped them from tracking my fleet."

"The technology we have is incredibly advanced and that was a gift from the Asgard," said McKay. "They must have tagged them somehow."

"But how?" asked Sovaer.

"I might have an idea," said ISIS, appearing out of thin air to the surprise of the Averian's.

"How did you do that?" asked Sovaer.

"I am a holographic projection of the ships AI," replied ISIS.

"How did they track the ships ISIS?" asked McKay.

"Several of the Averian fighter craft and ships used in the battle were marked with a radiation signature that my sensors can easily detect even at long range," explained ISIS.

"Can it be removed?" asked Durra.

"I have a countermeasure in my databanks that your ships should be able to implement," said ISIS.

"Send me the data and I'll get started on it," said Durra.

ISIS didn't reply and instead turned her head to look at Sheppard .

"Do it," he ordered.

"Aye commander."

"Be ready to transmit the same data to _Hope_ station," Sheppard added.

"Aye commander," said ISIS. "Transmission complete."

"Thank you," said Durra. "We may need to come up with a contingency plan in case we are unable to defeat this enemy."

"Then lets get to it," said Sheppard.

"What information can you give us about the station?" asked McKay.

* * *

_Hope_ station was one of the Averian's greatest achievements. The Hope system lacks green planets as we would call them. But there are several asteroid belts and planets which could be mined for resources, but there was nowhere to grow food without the construction of bio domes.

The station was basically a long cylinder with a wide rimmed upside down bowl like section at the top and placed on a thick disc, and numerous long spikes sticking out of the bottom. The central column was 9100 metres long with a diameter of 5600 metres, and held the 24 docking arms, and near each arm was a 400 by 700 metre hanger entrance in the central column. The arms themselves were arranged in three two by four groups, and were 350 metres tall, 300 metres wide and over 1500 metres long. They had entrances on the ends and both sides, with numerous docking umbilical's running along them. The upper bowl section was a lot larger than the central column. The disc was 9800 metres in diameter and 1400 metres high while the bowl was 2800 metres high. The longest of the spikes was 4900 metres long with the smallest being 3150 metres, all of which were uninhabited and were partially covered by a ring of solar radiation absorption panels which were 1050 metres wide. That brought the total size of the inhabited sections to be 13300 metres long and up to 9800 metres wide.

The station was designed as a ship berth primarily and held six per arm, four externally docked and two internally through the arm end entrances with the side entrances for fighters and smaller craft. The central column entrances would hold up to four ships, which came to a total capacity of 240 ships that were either transports or combat variants. Each of the arms also boasted two hangers designed to hold fighters and were capable of holding up to thirty, which gave the station a basic compliment of 1440 fighters.

Aside from ships and fighters the station also boasted formidable built in defences, with the starting point being a defence shield which was a thousand times more durable than anything found on the Averian's warships. Then there were the multiple layers of defensive weapons with overlapping fields of fire. The designer and commander of the station, Admiral Alec Xander, had proposed the following for the station defence screen.

"Layered defence is key, along with overlapping fields of fire. When looking at the fields of fire one must also take into account loss of weapons emplacements due to malfunction and enemy action. Let's divide the overall kill box into three zones; inner, intermediate, and outer. The outer zone can be covered by the outlaying pickets, which we can lay in a staggered formation three hundred and sixty degrees around the station. Let's assume each separate picket covers a ten degree slice of the compass from its position in relation to the station. That brings us to a total of 36 pickets forming the primary screen. These pickets will follow the same configuration as our warship combat sections and each picket would house thirty fighters which will give us 1080 fighters just for the outer defence and patrol groups.

"For the intermediate zone we have our beam weapons. Those should be mounted at the very top of the upper dome of hope station and at the very bottom. Let's say turrets on the top dome numbering ten, which each turret covering a thirty six degree field of fire. An eleventh turret can be mounted in the middle of the dome but this one should be allowed a three hundred and sixty degree field of movement. This will give you greater flexibility in targeting each zone. The ten turrets should allow for overlapping fields of coverage so I suggest each have a field of movement of forty degrees which should provide sufficient overlap.

"Moving on to the inner defence zone we have the heavier plasma weapons. In my mind we need four per arm of the station on the top, bottom, left and right of each arm. Further emplacements ringing the bottom lip of the upper dome, and also ringing the bottom third of the station body are advisable. I would recommend two ship type plasma cannons to cover each of the ten beam emitters that would be half the strength of the main arm cannons with double the firing rate, so that's twenty around the dome. If we go with the same type of lighter cannons then I would have twelve in a ring covering a thirty degree angle and six rings total. The rings with a ten degree change in position between each one to provide overlapping fields of fire.

"For ultra close in defence the mini drones come into place, these will be your defence of last resort. Call it sixteen twelve by six batteries total. Along the long portion of the body of the station mount the first four along the four points of the compass. Several hundred meters lower mount the next four but offset their position by twenty five degrees in relation to the first battery.

"That gives us a total of 36 defence pickets, 11 beam weapons, 96 heavy plasma cannons, 92 lighter plasma cannons, 16 missile batteries, 2520 fighters and a potential to hold 240 ships. Oh and a shield strength 1000 times that of one of our warships."

* * *

As powerful a station as this was it was now missing the majority of its defence fleet. Ninety of the ships present were transport types which possessed only the standard command section weapons and three hidden weapon nests as well as two thirds of the shield strength of the warships. The majority of these ships had been scattered around the system, picking up resources from automated mining stations and rechecking remote outposts. There were only fifty ships left in the system of the warship configuration, after the other one hundred had departed for Averia in case the amassing fleet decided to attempt an attack. Now though it became apparent that that build up of forces had been nothing more than a ruse to lure away the defences of the station, and when they found themselves without communications the penny dropped. The penny hit the deck plate when a large fleet of spear head shaped ships was registered as having exited hyperspace in system and launching large fighters.

They were lucky that they had raised shields in response to their communications being cut. Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to block the first volley of shots from the attacking ships. Yellow torpedoes of energy hurtled towards the stations shields, causing them to flare orange where the torpedoes struck. The weapon blasts were powerful, easily more powerful than the Averian's own plasma weapons, but the station shields held strong against the attack. The defence pickets facing the enemy however did not have as much luck, they were barely able to launch their fighters before they were overcome and destroyed.

Against a massive formation of four hundred warships, as well as the twelve fighters they each launched, the transport vessels retreated behind the stations shields for their own protection. The Averian warships were all docked for maintenance, the only active ships having been sent to Averia. The weapons on board the station were quite powerful but they were designed to cover all angles of attack. With the enemy only attacking from one angle almost two thirds of the stations weapons were out of arc. The remaining weapons however were destroying what ships they could but the energy torpedoes that the enemy were launching had an impressive range. The only weapons in range were the main plasma cannons and the beam weapons and while they could deliver powerful shots they could only target one ship at a time. The end result was a war of attrition that they would eventually lose.

Even deploying the stations massive number of fighters to combat the enemy fighters was only a stalling tactic and it was proving costly to both sides. The enemy fighters might have been less manoeuvrable but they were much bigger and so that much harder to destroy. They were more like small transports than fighter craft.

When the Averian fleet and the Weir exited hyperspace they immediately took stock of the situation. The stations shields were on the verge of collapsing under the sustained fire, a large number of the stations fighters had been destroyed and the few warships that were active were confined to firing plasma beams from their docks. At some point the defence pickets had been repositioned to combat the enemy fleet only to have been destroyed. By now over a hundred enemy ships had been destroyed along with a thousand of their fighter craft but it didn't seem to matter at this point.

"Admiral Durra," said Colonel Sheppard. "I think its time for that crazy plan of ours."

"I agree," replied Durra. "If we don't then we will be looking at a large number of civilian casualties. I'll relay the plan to Admiral Xander."

"Helm," ordered Sheppard. "Take us into position above the system and engage the tractor beam."

"Another crazy plan," said Rodney, while tapping at the console. "We don't usually have two in one day."

"Wells it has been a weird day," admitted Sheppard.

The _Weir_ rose to the top of the station, gracefully moving inside the stations shield thanks to assistance from _Hope_'s control team. Meanwhile the Averian fleet positioned themselves around the top of the station facing upwards like the _Weir_. Once they were in position and the tractor beam was locked in place Admiral Xander opened a channel.

"I just heard your plan," said Xander, looking slightly nervous at the prospect of what was to come. "I've removed all the tags from the docked ships. I really hope this works."

"We've seen this kind of thing done before so it should work," McKay assured him.

"All ships have been slaved to my control so we're ready when you are."

"Begin power up," ordered Sheppard.

"Confirmed," replied Xander.

The enemy fleet were surprised when the Averian fighters all retreated to the stations hangers, filling them well beyond their usual capacity. They also couldn't work out why the station had stopped firing at them but it made sense when the station shield strength got a boost in power as the capacitors were suddenly refilled. What they didn't notice was that the Averian fleet had all powered up their hyperdrive engines but hadn't opened a window yet. Instead they were channelling a huge amount of energy into the hyperdrive and then when enough energy was gathered a truly massive hyperspace window opened above the station. The window was large enough for the entire station to enter into it and that was the plan. With assistance from the stations thrusters the _Weir_ pulled the station through the window with the Averian fleet in tow. With the enemy fleet still firing desperately into the stations shields the window snapped shut and they were gone.

* * *

**Once again a big thank you to AlexanderD who wrote the majority of the Hope's defence layout.**


	22. Time to Regroup

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Its always nice to please and your character is going to play an important role. Without your assistance this story wouldn't have come as far as it has. I'm just sorry i took so long to get you this update but rest assured more are on the way.**

**Shadow of Realm: Your not the only one, everyone is asking that question but will they like the answer.**

**DaletheChu: Where there is conflict there will be action, who am i to say otherwise? When your writing what would be normally be an image in front of your its your duty to stick readers right in the middle of the action. **

**Jedi Carpet: I thought it best to give the readers an idea of just what AD created, a fair amount of that description was his idea and i thank him for it. In stargate an idea is usually so crazy is just has to work. I think this one certainly counts as off the wall so its gonna work.**

**lanteanscribe: Glad you like it, hats off to AD for the technical work for the defense weaponry.**

**Ecomadness: Glad you're enjoying it so far. Enjoy the latest.**

**kreep13: I try to balance out the combat, descriptions and the dialogue but sometimes an enemy just needs kicking.**

**herbert89: Here's the update, enjoy.**

**blocky: Anticipation makes it all the more worth it.**

* * *

**Unknown area of space**

In the space between stars, the gap between systems. In the void where there was only the background of glowing stars, some much, much brighter than others, a tear in the fabric of space began to rip open. The fabric between dimensions fractured and spread open, wider and wider until it easily six kilometres wide, forming the most massive hyperspace window that had ever been seen, and yet here there was no one to see it. And from this window emerged a single ship, a ship that was tiny compared to the window that had been opened, the _Weir_. But this single ship was just the tip of a much larger iceberg that was slowly being pulled through the still open window by the _Weir_. Surrounded by a vanguard fleet of small warships emerged a colossal structure that, once it cleared the window, had completed a feat that had never been conceived by its creators. Using the hyperdrive power of a fleet of relatively tiny ships _Hope_ station had successfully completed a journey through hyperspace.

The command and control of the Averian space station was a bustle of activity. At the numerous consoles and terminals throughout the large circular room crewmen were bringing online systems that had been dormant during their time in the exotic dimension. Reports poured in of the effects of their unplanned trip on the station, luckily they were all positive, the shields had held and the station had been unharmed.

Admiral Alec Xander, co-designer and commander of Hope station, breathed a sigh of relief at the good news. Then as his fears ebbed away his face steeled as he took command of the situation they now found themselves in and started barking out orders.

"All right people, listen up. Helm, activate manoeuvring thrusters and stabilise the station. Sensors, check the hull for any radioactive markers, purge any you find and report immediately if you do find any. Tactical, keep shields active, we still don't know we're safe, and begin recharging our shields. Use all available primary and secondary power for this and get shields at maximum as soon as possible. Have weapons on standby, and target any ships that appear, you'll have power priorities if they register as hostile. Com, contact Averia and inform them to have all ships check their hulls for radioactive tags and have our escort fleet do the same. Do not tell Averia our current position and only transmit on a narrow band data burst. Oh, and get me a line to the Weir and Colonel Sheppard. Have all docked ships connect their power grids to _Hope_'s and once connected begin recharging the shield capacitors."

"Aye sir."

"Communications established Admiral."

"On screen."

Across the numerous display screens throughout CAC the dual images of Admiral Durra and Colonel Sheppard appeared.

"Gentlemen," said Xander. "As station commander I am officially taking command until it is confirmed our location is secure. Colonel Sheppard I acknowledge that I have no control over you or ship but I ask that you co-operate for now. I assure you I will not order you to put your ship and her crew in danger."

"I understand," said Durra.

"We'll do what we can to help you Admiral," said Sheppard.

"Thank you both," replied Xander. "I've sent a message to Averia informing them of the countermeasures but I'm still having our hull checked for signatures in case we missed anything. In the mean time I would like all ships to connect to _Hope_'s power grid and begin recharging our shields. I can also begin repair operations to your ships Admiral while they're docked. Colonel, since it would take to long to adapt your ship to connect to our power grid I would like you to maximise your scanners and keep an eye out for any enemy vessels."

Both men nodded their understanding and severed the transmission.

* * *

As the surviving warships of Admiral Durra's assault force docked with the station in the numerous hangers across the arms and the central column the hangers became a bustle of activity. Repair teams raced forwards from their safe positions to the landed ships. Conduits, that had previously been used solely to channel power from the station to the ships, extended outwards and locked into place allowing the ships generators to feed the stations capacitors. Over the hull of the station crawled the stations scorpion shaped repair robots. These metallic constructs were designed to maintain the hull of the station and perform external repairs that could not be done from the inside. Thousands of these machines were now scanning the hull of the station, searching for any signs of radioactive tags that might have been planted, so far though the scans were coming up dry.

Above the station, and inside _Hope_'s shields, the _Weir_ remained stationary, her sensors scanning the depths of space around them for any signs of movement, and finding none.

As repairs on the Averian warships progressed and no further signs of tags were found the mood started to calm. With all the power of the stations massive generators and those aboard the Averian ships channelling power into the capacitors the shields quickly recharged to full, even with them active.

* * *

"Status," ordered Xander.

"Hull maintenance robots have completed scans of the station. No tags found and the hull appears to be intact."

"Shields are at maximum capacity and weapons are all on standby."

"Sensors report no contacts, hostile or friendly."

"The _Weir_ is reporting nothing on sensors."

"Okay then," said Xander, breathing a sigh of relief. "Open a channel to Averia and get me Minister Jakose."

In moments the worried face of Minister Jakose appeared on the view screens.

"Admiral it's good to hear from you again, we were getting worried."

Xander gave him a reassuring smile. "Sorry for leaving you wondering sir but we had to make sure we couldn't be tracked or we would have to move again."

"Yes I heard the reports from our scouts. Taking the entire station with you was one hell of a risky manoeuvre, you're lucky it worked."

"To be honest sir we didn't have a choice, this station wasn't designed to simply be evacuated. It was better to take the risk than be sure we would lose our people. What did the scouts say about the _Hope_ system?"

Jakose's face was grim. "It seems once you pulled out _with_ the station they turned your attention to everything else in the system. From what we can tell every mining site we had there was destroyed."

Xander frowned. "I expected as much. They probably thought if they couldn't get the station they would get everything else. I hope they didn't take out their frustrations on Averia."

Jakose actually smiled. "They tried taking a few pot shots at the planet from a distance but it didn't do them any good, they couldn't get past the planetary defence shield."

"_Hope_ wasn't so lucky. If we hadn't pulled out when we did the shields would have gone down pretty quickly."

"How are repairs going?"

"It took us a while to get the shields back to full but that was because we kept them active until we could completely check the hull with the maintenance robots. I would have liked to just divert the power to the sensors but the shield was so weak we needed to keep recharging it. Other than that it's just a matter of patching the ships up. Durra's fleet took a bit of a pounding during his battle and he lost some ships but other than that everything went according to plan."

"That's good news at least. I'll have your warships sent to your location. You could use the back-up."

"About that, I want to keep _Hope_ where it is for the foreseeable future."

"Are you sure?"

Xander nodded. "I think its best. In a star system we have more chance of being discovered than open space."

"What's the area of space you're in like?"

"Our long range sensors have a few star systems dotted around us. I'm going to dispatch a few ships to scout the systems and see if they have any suitable mining sites."

"It might be necessary to see if we can establish a stargate connection with the station. It would be a safer supply line than transporting it all by ship."

"I thought that we proved that wouldn't work out?"

"Some of the Vanir believe that the Tau'ri and the Asgard might have a way to do so, they have more experience experimenting with the gate system than we do."

It was true. Averia's stargate did not allow for incoming travellers as part of a subroutine embedded in the stargate network. Attempts to dismantle it had failed and the Averians didn't get out of their own home system much for security reasons so further study had been decided to be too risky. They didn't want to risk permanently damaging their only stargate when attempting to secure another could lead to a confrontation with the Wraith before they were ready for one.

"I'll talk to the Tau'ri here about it. Minister, we need them as allies."

"I know we do, now more than ever."

With the conversation over the transmission was severed.

"Contact the Weir," Xander ordered.

"Admiral," said Sheppard.

"Colonel I was hoping you might be able to help us with a little problem we have."

"What's the situation?"

"At the moment we plan to keep the station here instead of placing it in another star system. In order to establish a secure supply line we will need a stargate but we don't have a way to modify the command coding so one will work away from a planetary body. We were hoping your people might have a solution to this problem."

"I'll talk to McKay but I think we can come up with something."

"You have my thanks."

* * *

"I don't want to hear it right now Rodney," said an agitated Sheppard as he marched down the ships corridors with Rodney half jogging behind him to keep up.

"You know I'm right," protested Rodney. "You saw those ships and those fighters."

"So what, what do we know other than the fact the ships are familiar?"

"The implications of this could be disastrous for us all," Rodney shot back.

"Could the _Daedalus_ have possibly found its way back to that reality?"

"Well no…" admitted Rodney.

"Then it's not the same aliens we encountered and we can't take anything as fact," argued Sheppard. "Assuming it is could only get us killed in the long run."

"The weapons and the ships they used are almost identical," McKay countered.

"So what? We don't know anything about this version until we find some way of getting more information and I don't want to go down that road until we are ready."

"So what are we supposed to do in the mean time?"

"You are supposed to find a suitable gate for the Averian's to use and are going to modify the dialling sequence so that it will work without a planet."

"Yeah and then what am supposed to do in five minutes when I've done that?"

John paused momentarily. "Five minutes…really?"

Rodney shrugged. "We already used pretty much the same program on Midway. In this case it should be easier as I just need to have it use the mass of the station as the point of origin."

"Nice to see we have some breaks. But we still need to find a stargate for them to use."

"Not a problem we'll just give them one of ours."

This time John did stop completely. "What do you mean one of ours?"

"One of the gates we have in storage in the _Weir'_s cargo bays that we recovered from the void as part of the old gate bridge network."

"And when were you going to tell me about all this?" John asked angrily.

Rodney shrugged. "Hey I thought you knew. It was all in the reports you got sent about the _Weir_ under the stores list."

An image of the small mountain of paperwork he had received when he was given command of the new flagship popped into his head. Okay so there had been a lot to go through but surely he hadn't missed that.

"That poses a major security risk you know, why the hell are they even onboard."

"I thought you knew, where did you think that gate for our mining world came from?"

John didn't answer, he just scowled. "Tell me that there is no chance of some invasion force making their way in through one of the stargates."

"None at all, they've all been deactivated and disconnected from their DHD's. They can't even be dialled because the macro I designed is still in effect."

"Fine give them one of those, just be sure to wipe the old command data from them."

"Where are you going?"

"To do what I have to," John replied cryptically before continuing down the corridor again.

* * *

**Tau'ri Mining Planet - Pegasus**

Over time the mining world had expanded from a single main base to a nexus of mining outposts spreading out across the planet. Utilising transport pillars resources could be transferred from the smaller outposts to the main base with ease and the resources poured in as more of the outposts became complete. The primary directives had been clear, stockpile resources and complete the smaller outposts. No vessels of any class were to be built and no resources were to be transferred off planet until these first orders were complete and even then only with express permission from an appropriate authority. The mining process however was proving so efficient that they wouldn't have to wait long for the needed resources to become available and the worker drones were constructing the outposts with ease. After all a small outpost made almost entirely out of concrete is easy to build using matter converters when the necessary materials are at hand. The personnel stationed on the planet thought that they would be watching the resources pile up quite quickly now that the last construction projects were nearing completion, however with a single order from one Colonel Sheppard would set off a chain reaction of frantic activity.

Once _Hope_ station had been deemed to be in a secure location Sheppard had used his authority as commander of the Pegasus forces to authorise defensive measures to be implemented. Instead of empty construction yards and silent machines suddenly a wave of frenzied activity erupted as construction beams were brought online and engineers worked in whatever space was available to them. The final mining robots were the first thing to be constructed and were soon put to work even before the outposts they would call home were completed. Priorities had suddenly changed. Instead of stock piling mined resources those same resources were now being channelled into constructing a defence that the world might someday desperately need. In the numerous construction yards stationed at the main base dozens of satellites were being assembled with pain staking care.

Two versions of these satellites were being constructed. The first consisting of nothing more than a computer, a position stabiliser, a microwave receiver and a shield emitter, while the second consisted of a position stabiliser, a computer, a generator and a microwave transmitter. Together these satellites would form a defence shield that would encompass the entire planet and protect the surface from bombardment. The design for the shield grid was simple and yet also quite advanced in own way. Most defence shields simply consist of the shield generator tied to a set of capacitors and as the shields take hits the energy stored in the capacitors is gradually used up, at which point the shield fails. However the type of shield these satellites would generate had more in common with a wall of pure energy rather a typical defence shield. The design was based off the shields of _Atlantis_ which coincidentally used the same technological principle as those used by Ori motherships. A solid wall energy shield would be created that would be able to be able to maintained so long as enough power was being channelled to maintain it. The advantage of this type of shield was that so long as it was being given enough power it would be able to withstand constant bombardment without failing and without being overwhelmed. As had been seen before though such a shield could fail if enough energy was directed at a specific point as the barrier was, after all only so strong. Hence the reason the Asgard designed plasma beams had pierced the Ori shields with every shot. The Alterans had attempted to counter such a problem by using ZPM's as a source of power for city ships, the remarkable batteries being able to provide as much power at a time as had been necessary, but like all batteries they would eventually run out of power. The Tau'ri design was a combination of the two. Instead of being fed by a capacitor power would be transferred via microwave beam from the generators to each of the emitters which would in turn generate the energy shield. Each emitter would be supplied by one generator as standard in order to produce the basic barrier while additional satellites would channel power to different emitters to reinforce that area of the shield as it became necessary. What this boiled down to was a shield that would not only protect the entire planet from bombardment but would also, because of the advanced and almost intelligence like programming, reinforce whatever area happened to be under attack. This would prevent it from failing without wasting energy by boosting the entire shield.

Soon the entire shield grid would be in place with dozens of the generator satellites to power it. The satellites were time and resource consuming to produce but the more they had the stronger the defence they would have available. And with this new unknown enemy suddenly appearing from the depths of space it would undoubtedly prove very necessary. No one had thought that something like a mining site would need these kinds of defences but in time as the shipyard facilities came online this world would quickly become that much more precious.

The priority at the moment was defence, but once the shield grid was fully operational offensive options could be considered. The Tau'ri, after all, were never ones to just shield themselves from harm and not striking back when able. Many a Goa'uld, Wraith and even the supposedly all powerful Ori had learned this, much to their peril. The Night Fury class which had originally been conceived to pound the Wraith into submission by providing swift death in a relatively compact package would serve their interests very well should it be deemed necessary.

* * *

**Hope System**

The battle against the unknown enemy had been rather one sided and as such very little damage had been inflicted by the Averians before they had retreated with _Hope_ in tow. The chances of finding any suitably intact wreckage to analyse were slim but despite this the Tau'ri had still dispatched a lone transport shuttle to the system in the hopes of finding something to give them some clue as to what they might be up against.

Immediately after exiting hyperspace the shuttle cloaked and started scanning the system. The last of the unknowns had long since left the system, presumably for wherever they called home, but they weren't taking any chances. It took some time but if the asteroid belts were all ignored along with the planets then scanning the system became that much easier. Since scans were focused around the area of the battle then eventually they found what they were looking for in the form of the remains of a fighter craft.

The fighter was far from where _Hope_ had once stood and had presumably been set adrift after taking damage. At a glance the fighter seemed to be relatively intact, but if you looked closer the burn marks from energy weapon impact became more apparent. But on there own these things wouldn't seem likely to have taken it out of the fight. What had done that was the large crack running almost the entire length of the cockpits cover plate and the piece of debris lodged in it. The fighter crew had died from lack of air, the cockpits own atmosphere having been sucked out and replaced by the cold vacuum of space.

Amongst the mass of floating debris this was truly the best that they could hope to find so this was the piece they chose to salvage. It was the work of a moment to beam the damaged fighter to the sizeable cargo hold of the shuttle, although if the thing had been much bigger it probably wouldn't have fit being much larger than most fighter craft. But then it did carry three passengers in its cockpit, and the aliens manning it certainly weren't small creatures being two meters tall and heavily built.

* * *

The recovered alien fighter had been immediately brought to the _Weir_ for study, and the sight that greeted them once they finally removed the aliens from their metal coffin was not a welcome one. Perfectly preserved by the vacuum of space sat four dead sickly green skinned figures, each of which bore a striking resemblance to Wraith drones.

For the front line gate team of _Atlantis_ the sight of these figures was enough to confirm what they already feared, another enemy had emerged from the dark to strike at them. In another Pegasus in another reality these same aliens had been a bitter enemy to the Tau'ri and would have destroyed that realities _Atlantis_ if not for their untimely arrival. Now it seemed the same species had appeared, with the difference being this species was native to this reality and potentially posed the same threat. Caution would be necessary if they were to survive the coming days. The problem was the sheer lack of information they possessed about this species. Who were they? Where did they come from? Why had they attacked the Averians? When had the two species even met to become enemies in the first place? Were they a threat? Would they be a threat? There were so many questions and so few answers, and no way to get them if they couldn't even find them. So far the Tau'ri hadn't fired a single shot against these aliens but the aliens may still view them as an enemy for helping the Averians. Life in the Pegasus galaxy had a bad habit of getting complicated, a fact which never seemed to change.

* * *

A universe is a grand thing. To think of it we imagine a vast cluster of countless galaxies slowly spreading apart, and each one filled with billions of stars, countless worlds and countless chances for life to exist. And yet what we see is only one layer of existence for there are many planes of existence beyond that which can be seen by the naked eye. Subspace, hyperspace, two dimensions that exist in the same place as real space but physically separate from that which we call our own. And yet there exists another plane, a higher plane which humanity might one advance enough to reach on our own without the assistance of those that have come to reside there. This plane is occupied by beings that have shed their once physical forms to become beings of pure energy, a state of being known as ascension. Ascension from the lower plane to a higher and from mortality to powers that are beyond our current understanding. In our area of the universe the majority of the ascended are those who once, when they were flesh, were known as the Alterans, and now bear the title Ancients. Ancient, old, but not forgotten.

So great is the power of those who have ascended that one rule stands above all others for those who have achieved such power, none interference. Under no circumstances are the ascended allowed to use their powers to affect the lower planes, a rule that they will enforce with zeal.

But there will always be those who will try to help those who need it and there are times when the others will ignore such actions, for despite their views the Ancients still recognise what needs to be done, sometimes. They could have stopped Oma from saving the entire Milky Way from extinction at the hands of Anubis but instead let her sacrifice herself by keeping him locked in combat for eternity. If they so wish they could have stopped Morgan La Fey from providing the Tau'ri with a means to defeat the Ori but they did not, instead they allowed her to eventually take on Adria, the last of the Ori and thus bring about the end of their old enemy. Many know of these events but few know what came after. The Ancients had been given a chance, a chance to bring about the extinction of an enemy who would just as happily destroy them and for once, they took it. Perhaps it was pride that caused them to assist Morgan in her battle, perhaps it was fear, or perhaps it was anger that had been allowed to simmer for over ten thousand years at the embodiment of the enemy that had brought them to their knees. Or perhaps it was the first step taken by an individual who had become legendary not for being an ascended but for his time as a mortal man, an individual known as Janus. In any battle there is always one person at the very front, the one who swings the first strike, the one who takes the first shot. In the battle between the Ancients and the Ori Morgan had struck first, but it was Janus who struck second. Two ascended locked in battle against one another is a constant battle between two unstoppable forces, with neither able to overcome the other. It was for this reason that the Ancients were so amenable to Oma taking on Anubis, for she would be trapped, as unable to move as he. Unable to run and unable to affect the rest of the universe, the interferer of the lower planes would be out of their hair. But if a third force were to enter the fray things might change if that force were directed at only one target. Unfortunately for Adria she was the target, and Janus was but the first of many more to come.

But while the rest of the ascended Ancients were exacting retribution Janus pulled Morgan away from the fight. At first she had protested. She wanted to go back, to finish what Merlin had started but Janus had been adamant that there was something they needed to do now while the others were busy. So together the two had return to their own corner of the galaxy and descended on a clash much like the one they had left. A battle between Oma Desala and Anubis, that had been raging for over two years and which the Ancients had been guarding so that no one might interfere, until now. When the two beings descended upon the clash, neither Oma or Anubis expected what was to happen next. Again and again Janus and Morgan struck at Anubis, the semi ascended creature reeling under every blow. Against Oma alone he could have survived by putting all of his energy into defending but against three of the all powerful beings he stood no chance of surviving. Before the Ancients had finished cornering and killing Adria Anubis had been vanquished and Oma freed from her imprisonment.

During the coming years the three travelled together, watching over the lower planes as they made strides into the future. Occasionally they would find beings that might be worthy of ascension, and so the interviews would begin. Janus would test their knowledge, Oma their wisdom and Morgan their intentions. Some were ready for the chance they offered, others required time to progress along the path.

* * *

**Nox Homeworld - Past**

"So they found another option other than cloning," said Janus. "I'm surprised they didn't go down this route sooner."

"Many hesitate to give up their flesh," stated Oma. "How many times have we seen people return to human form rather than stay isolated as an ascended? Some habits are too strong to break."

"They cannot be faulted for trying to fix their mistakes," added Morgan. "There are many who would not hesitate to simply discard their failures and try something different but it takes a brave person to try to right the wrongs they have done."

"You're still mad because I didn't allow you to finish Adria aren't you?" asked Janus pointedly.

"No," denied Morgan. "I see the reasoning behind it I just think that if you had tidied up a little better the universe might be a little better for it."

"It's not my fault people insist on not leaving well enough alone," protested Janus. "I mean they were abandoned for a reason."

"Haven't you two done this enough times already?" asked Oma.

"No." they both replied.

"Still I would like to regain human form just to look at that ship of theirs," said Janus. "It certainly is an impressive piece of technology."

"And this is why we have this argument," said Morgan. "He's just like Merlin."

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Oma.

"I thought you liked Merlin towards the end?" pondered Janus.

"I meant a young Merlin," corrected Morgan.

"Ah."

* * *

**_Hope_ System – Present**

"And so another potential threat emerges," said Oma.

"But an ally has been gained and an enemy vanquished," pointed out Janus.

"Yes about that…" said Morgan.

"I had nothing to do with it I swear," protested Janus. "Okay so I might have left the odd piece of technology about the place but I never left behind an instruction manual and this is something else entirely. An ark containing the basic knowledge necessary to advance a civilisation to be a threat to the Wraith, it's an inspired plan."

"You just wish you'd thought of it," countered Morgan.

"True," admitted Janus.

"What I want to know is who this enemy is?" said Oma.

"So do the Tau'ri," said Janus. "Did you take a look at those things in that fighter craft?"

"Yes I did," said Morgan. "The similarities between the Wraith and those things are indeed troubling."

"The universe loves its ironic twists doesn't it?" commented Janus. "The Tau'ri solve the Wraith problem spectacularly only to be confronted by what appears to be a whole new version of it."

"Surely you don't think these are the Wraith themselves?" asked Morgan.

"No I don't, but I think some link was forged in the past ten thousand years and this is the result."

"We should go," said Oma. "There is nothing left for us here. We all seek answers but we will not find them if we do not look for them."

"Agreed."

* * *

**Please click review and tell me what you think. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions and epecially your impressions of my OC's.**


	23. Questions, Answers and more Questions

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Well we'll see about Alec won't we. This story will never go unfinished, i may have to put it on the back burner when i am busy or have writers block but i will always strive to update it. **

**Shadows-of-Realm: A good mystery serves to keep the tension running high. **

**blocky: The ascended work as a great plot device and one i intend to use.**

**mwbib: Glad i've caught your attention. Hopefully you'll review the next as well.**

**DaRoHa: I couldn't possibly do that, i know someone who already has and is doing a fantastic job with it. Technically they could make stargates using the Asgard database, they just wouldn't have the advanced safety protocols which would make things very risky. As for ZPM's, well they already have a number of those on recharge.**

**GYY: Indeed he is, and he brought people with him.**

**stark40763: So far they are sticking to the non-interference rule, so far. **

**MalSer: Answers are forthcoming very soon, well some answers. The ascended give me a chance to show off the interesting events that are happening in the background.**

* * *

**_Weir_ – Genetics Lab**

Sheppard strode into the well equipped genetics lab, the very same lab where they had given Todd and Echidna the cure. So it was no surprise when he saw the two glowing disks and the figure locked in place between them. It was a good thing the device rendered anything immovable as the figure would have been unable to stand on its own, since it was one of the dead aliens from the fighter the scout team had recovered. Studying the strange creature were Doctors Keller and Beckett.

"So what have we got Doc's?" Sheppard asked hopefully. He was in a much better mood now that he received confirmation that the initial stages of the mining worlds defence grid were now operational.

"Well we have some good news and some bad news," said Carson apprehensively. "The good news is that despite appearances this guy is definitely not a Wraith. The lack of a feeding slit being our first clue."

"Well that definitely sounds good," agreed Sheppard. "So what's the bad news, you don't have a clue what he actually is?"

"No," said Jennifer. "We know for certain he's a hybrid."

Sheppard froze for a moment before practically yelling "WHAT!" causing both doctors to flinch.

"Aye," said Carson. "Comparisons with our genetics library confirm it. But one thing I can say for sure is that he isn't one of Michaels."

"How do you know that?" asked John.

"Michael's hybrids were all humans that had been given Wraith DNA to make them stronger, faster and a much longer life span while still retaining some individuality so that their minds were intact," Carson explained. "This guy however is the complete opposite. He possesses the base line DNA of your typical Wraith drone with some human DNA strands in place of others. Instead of having the normal feeding DNA he has a human digestive system and he lacks any part of the brain that we even thinks has something to do with Wraith telepathy."

"From what we can tell this thing was grown in a lab," said Jennifer.

"Let me guess, no belly button?" Sheppard asked jokingly.

"Actually this guy shows none of the connection points that would link a Wraith to a hibernation pod aboard one of their facilities or ships," said Jennifer. "Those same pods also act as artificial wombs; they are what the Wraith grow in. These things were changed so they didn't need them."

"So explain to me why this means this guy is grown in a lab and not the result of some science experiment?" asked Sheppard.

"Because they are just missing, they were never there," said Carson. "When we altered the DNA of the Wraith to remove the feeding organ we effectively removed it but there is still the gap where it once was. There internals have long since bypassed the gap but it's still obvious it used to be there. These guys lack both the connection points for the pods and these feeding organs. But their bodies grew as if they didn't have to leave a gap for them because as far as they were concerned they never existed."

"So the Queen Wraith couldn't also be altered as well because without these connection points she couldn't make the kids anyway," surmised Sheppard.

"Aye," said Carson. "Isn't Wraith genetics fascinating? But now we get to the interesting part."

"Okay I'll bite what's the interesting part?"

"You see these lights," said Carson. Indicating the three dead red lights on the creatures left cranium. "They aren't lights."

"Then what are they?" asked Sheppard curiously.

"From what we can tell these are the surface parts of an implant wired directly into the creature's brain," explained Carson. "A normal drone would almost constantly receive commands telepathically from its leaders, but this chap doesn't have the ability to communicate telepathically because of the alterations. Instead the device acts as a relay for it to receive remote commands from whoever is controlling them. We also suspect the device acts as an interface with the creature's brain allowing for instructions to be pre-programmed, but we won't know more until we complete a proper autopsy on the others."

"So someone could send out an army of these things and just sit back and give them instructions from a distance," realized Sheppard. "Which means that whoever is controlling them could be anywhere."

"It's possible," agreed Jennifer. "But I think it's unlikely. The actual grey matter of this creature is very limited, most likely to ensure obedience, but that still means that it would have difficulty functioning independently rather like the drones themselves since the neural block is still in place. They would have to be receiving regular control updates to function fully."

"Well that's some good news at least," said Sheppard. "Let me know when the autopsy is complete and send one of those neural implants to Rodney to look at."

"Will do Colonel," said Carson before turning back to the console. "Now let's see what other secrets this chaps hiding."

* * *

**Wraith Homeworld**

The world where it had all started, the world where the first Wraith had been unintentionally created, the world that started it all and now the world where everything would begin to change. On this world, surrounded by rings of rock and ice, the Wraith as a society would be reborn. Echidna had deemed that this world would become the capital that would form the heart of the new Wraith Empire. An empire that was hoped for survive for countless years to come, far longer than their previous stagnant society had lasted.

The first steps of this grand undertaking were already well under way on many other worlds. The infrastructure that would support the Wraith was already coming along quite nicely. What had once been mere outposts were flowering into colonies that would become self sufficient once the various farms and industrial areas came online. On the homeworld small areas of jungle were being cleared in preparation for what was to come. Using the research that the treacherous twins had accumulated over the years so much more was now possible for the Wraith, during the war the possibilities for bio technology had not been explored as fully as the twins had liked and they had taken great strides over the years. Millennia of failed experiments had led to numerous designs for structures that could be grown into being, several of which had been noted during the attack and it was these structures which would aid the new empire. The punishment for the twins had already been decided and as planned they would allow the growth of two very important structures for the homeworld but their research would allow for important structures to be built across the empire.

One design that had been discovered, buried and discarded in favour of something better suited to war, was a structure rather similar to a skyscraper in shape. The twins had not seen this as being of much use and through trial and error had radically altered the design. Removing the viewing ports in the side and hollowing out the interior and therefore leaving the hardened carapace intact they had instead created a large surface based energy cannon. The empire would have use for such a design now though, as they wished to create vast cityscapes across their worlds in a bid to rival the exploits of the Tau'ri.

Further more it had been discovered that by combining different pathogens and implementing them in stages the interior design of buildings could be altered, whilst still maintaining the sturdy structural design needed to keep it standing. This would allow them to create a whole range of different designs as they wished, many of which were still being pondered by the Wraith collective, with ideas being submitted for consideration.

While many ideas on what to build were being considered the construction projects already ordered were well under way. On jungle worlds more and more land was being turned into farmland every day so that the Wraith population would be able to provide for themselves and not have to rely on hand outs. The more barren worlds however had been deemed unsuitable for farmland. Since even the toughest shrubs that grew there were already struggling for survival and the earth clearly lacked the necessary nutrients it was deemed to be not worth the hassle. Instead these worlds would house shipyards of a much smaller scale than the massive shipyard that would be built around the facility created from one of the twins. A recent addition to these particular worlds was the inclusion of the power generation and defensive emplacement facilities. The power generation buildings were considered of the upmost importance since these would greatly speed up the process of growing the facilities.

Before any of these could be built however the cloning facility would need to be completed and that would once again take time, time which could be shortened with just a little boost of power. In one jungle clearing a mass of tendrils was slowly stretching outwards, absorbing the bio matter from the jungle and using it to speed up its own growth. This mass had once been one of the twins but soon it would be a massive facility for producing blank clones that would act as neural hubs for the buildings they planned to grow. Echidna was adamant that a conscious life would never be sacrificed again for the sake of Wraith advancement. This facility would take much time to grow if left on its own so steps were being taken to ensure it was completed as soon as possible. As a token of friendship to the Matriarch the Asgard were putting several neutrino ion generators on the surface around both the cloning facility and the shipyard hub that was also steadily growing nearby. With these generators adding their power the growth time for the two buildings would be greatly reduced and the Wraith could begin production that much faster. Of course the Asgard could have assisted the Wraith by providing the blank clones right away but it was decided this would be more beneficial to the Wraith, as it meant they would advance at their own pace.

While these two facilities were growing on the planet below one the arguably most important events of them all was taking place aboard the _Arima_, the reuniting of mother and son. It was a meeting that Todd had been waiting for ever since Sheppard had paid him a visit.

* * *

**Flashback – _Weir_ Infirmary**

Todd lay reclined on one of the infirmary beds. The _Weir_ had long since moved _Hope_ to its new permanent location but the medical staff had refused to release him. His wounds suffered at the hands of his insidious sisters may have long since healed, courtesy of his regenerative abilities and large amounts of food, but they still remained unwilling to even allow him out of bed. Their argument was that his body may be physically healed but he still required rest if he was going to fully recover quickly. Wounds may heal but weariness was not a physical wound that you can rely on to close itself while you get on with other things. Weariness is like a disease that thrives on the strong will of people and grows stronger as you push yourself harder and harder just to keep going.

Todd may have suffered little in the way of physical torture aside from the obvious signs of beatings but the twins had been far more insidious. Keeping him awake, denying him the ability to sleep, forcing him to continually perform menial repetitive physical tasks that only escalated in their difficulty each time he completed them. For someone with a Wraith physiology these had been annoyances to overcome and that phase of torture had quickly ended. But what had drained him of strength, with horrific literalness, were the feedings. Repeatedly his sisters had come to him and whispered to him, tempting him with promises of power and prestige, all the while a Wraith drone had its hand clamped to his chest. He had been drained and then returning it all. The experience was horrific, losing your life force and then having it replaced is not the issue but the feeding process itself had left him feeling weaker and weaker the longer it happened, and the twins saw to it that each time he refused their gracious offer the lengths of the feedings increased. Naturally he refused every time so by the time his rescue had come he had already passed out.

Sheppard's unexpected arrival in the infirmary had surprised the Wraith out his brooding, and for a moment he forgot how bored he was alone.

"What do you want Sheppard?" Todd asked grumpily.

"Oh just doing my rounds, checking up on things," he replied with a cheer that grated on Todd's nerves. "So how are we today?"

"You know you're the second human to ask me that today," Todd replied, with a barely concealed smirk.

"Ah so the psychologist decided to drop by, how did that go?" Sheppard asked curiously.

"He seemed to decide it was best that I be left alone to rest," Todd replied smoothly. All it had taken was one glare from him to send the human on his way.

"Ah," said Sheppard in understanding. "Well he usually makes the same call with Ronon when he's stuck in the infirmary so I suppose that's a good sign."

"Why are you really here Sheppard?" Todd asked bluntly.

Sheppard straightened his features into a more serious expression, the time for games was over.

"I have a question and I would like a straight answer," he said.

"Ask and we shall see."

"All right, why now? Why did you wait ten thousand years to bring your mother out of stasis?"

"That is a harsh question to be directed at someone who has been told he must have constant rest," Todd observed.

"Yeah well it's a question I want an answer to and it just so happens you aren't going anywhere for the time being. You don't anything on a whim Todd, you waited ten thousand years when surely the best time to bring her out would have been ten thousand years ago when the Wraith won the war. So tell me, why?"

"Why do you think?" Todd asked.

"You know that's an interesting question and it took me a while to figure it out. First of all I thought it was because you couldn't risk it back then. The traitors had just smashed apart an enemy that had been kicking your collective asses with a vengeance before sending in the clones. If you had tried that same trick again the Wraith would have just rallied against her and wouldn't have a thing to fear. If the Lanteans couldn't deal with them then what chance did she have right?"

Todd stayed silent, his gaze fixed on the human sitting in the chair next to his bed.

"Then I thought, hey he had no choice right? We were threatening to turn his kind into an endangered species so why not try to save as many as possible. With Echidna backing us, the rightful Matriarch all for the cure, how many Wraith would turn to begin with? How many more after that? And it would go on from there. After all that was why you gave me that rant about us killing Wraith."

Once again Todd remained silent, so Sheppard continued uninterrupted.

"But then I thought, maybe he just got tired. Maybe after ten thousand years he just got sick of waiting. Maybe he just missed her. Maybe it was down to a whim after all."

And again Todd remained silent.

"Then I figured it out. When you rammed a cruiser into that hive so she could get away I figured it out. You were afraid. All this time you were afraid for her safety."

Still nothing, still silence from the Wraith in the bed.

"You didn't care about the timing for taking back control of the Wraith hierarchy you only wanted to keep her safe. But to do that you would either have to leave her in stasis for a very long time or…find some way to protect her when she was alive. You tried that with that special hive ship of yours, that thing was damn near unbeatable with ZPM's backing it. But that plan went badly because you just can't trust other Wraith, can you? You probably had your doubts from the beginning but that clinched it, you couldn't protect her if your own kind would betray you so you thought to hell with them. You got angry because you thought we had gone back on our word but when you realised that we were willing to destroy those that refused the treatment you figured this was perfect. We could protect her for you. We had the ability to beat the Wraith that might come after her and if necessary we could even take her out of the galaxy to where the others couldn't follow." By the end Sheppard was almost laughing. "You know I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out. You didn't care about the Wraith, you just wanted to protect your mother and until recently I would never have thought of that."

Todd finally found his voice and with a low long chuckle he said, "I told you Sheppard that there is much about Wraith that you do not understand. But your certainly beginning to understand this one."

* * *

Todd strode cheerfully in to the command area where his mother, and matriarch, was seated in her command chair. Echidna smiled at seeing her son again, even though it had been several days since his rescue he had only recently had the chance to get off the _Weir_ and make his way home. Home, that word now held new meaning in the old Wraiths heart. He had never thought he would have somewhere to call home again, but being on the _Arima_ it seemed appropriate. Being on the _Arima_ and being by his matriarch's side. Yes, he was home alright.

"Welcome back," said Echidna, as she warmly embraced her son.

"It is good to be back mother," replied Todd as he released the hug. "How are things progressing?"

Echidna chuckled. "You've been back for five minutes and you're already asking about the state of this would be empire?"

"It will be an empire," Todd stated firmly. "A great and powerful empire that will stretch across the stars and stand strong for countless years to come."

"And I'm sure you will see to it that this is so."

"No mother. I shall merely assist you in realising this dream."

Echidna smiled. "I won't be around forever my son."

"We'll see."

"Hmmph, but your right if we can make this empire strong then it will be able to stand on its own. But to do that will require a lot of hard work, for all Wraith."

"Then we will all work hard," Todd stated. "What have you learned from my sister's archives?"

Echidna frowned. "They have discovered some remarkable things over the years, but I shudder to think of the means employed to learn them."

Todd shrugged. "We cannot undo what has been done. We can only learn from the mistakes of the past and put what they have discovered to a better use."

"You are right," said Echidna, before sighing. "I just wish that it wasn't so."

"As do I mother, as do I."

The pair spent a few moments in silent contemplation before moving on.

"I have found several designs which will suit our needs but I would like you to take a look at the databases recovered before we proceed further."

"I saw that you have begun construction on the planet below, I presume that is why there is an Asgard vessel in orbit?" Todd enquired.

"Yes," she confirmed. "Your sisters are being turned into something useful, a blank clone production facility and a shipyard hub."

"I see, and the Asgard are assisting?"

"They are providing additional power to speed up the growth of the facilities. The sooner the cloning facility is online the sooner we can begin construction projects on other worlds."

"Yes, about that. I have an idea for future ship construction projects."

"Oh?"

"I want to alter the hulls of any ships we produce to make the ships stronger. Our lack of shields puts us at a disadvantage and our hulls have proven to be highly susceptible to even the weaker weapons of most races."

"I agree, we will need stronger ships for the safety of our race. I assume you wish to use the hull configuration of that super hive you designed?"

Todd shook his head. "No that design would be impractical for our ships as it relied on hull armour that was almost constantly regenerating in battle thanks to the power from the ZPM's. The armour itself was a weaker version of the _Arima_'s own armour which is far more effective. Even a relatively thin layer of that armour will make our ships that much stronger."

"I see. You should know that your sisters were also using a modified hive design as their flagship, it utilised additional power generators that gave it a distinct advantage over other hives."

"Intriguing, a simple but clever solution to the problem our ships face. Until we can trade for some more efficient power generator designs that will certainly go a long way to improving our ships."

"I believe we would do better to improve our own technology rather than rely on that of others. I want the Wraith to be able to stand independently as a race, and we cannot do that if we are forced to rely on others."

"I understand Matriarch. The additional generators will greatly improve the strength of our hives, and now that we are united as a people we can focus our efforts more successfully."

"I want you to begin organising a research division under your command," Echidna ordered. "You will take the best scientists we have to offer and task them with researching improvements to all Wraith systems with power generation being the priority."

"Yes Matriarch," said Todd.

"Once that is done I will require your assistance with planning the layout for our new capital and colonies."

"Yes Matriarch," responded Todd with a smirk.

"Then begin your service to the Empire," she commanded. Adding "My son."

* * *

**_Hope_ Station**

Despite being designed as a military fall back _Hope_ had numerous observation areas dotted across its monolithic structure, small areas where the crew could sit and look out into the vast depths of space. In a usually vacant area of the station stood Sovaer, leaning against the reinforced window and staring at the distant stars.

"You know Aerin I'm sure the Vanir haven't given you a heat vision upgrade yet," said Jakose, striding forwards to stand next to his friend. "But I really wish you wouldn't stare at the window so hard."

Aerin continued to look out of the window, unwilling to even acknowledge the other mans presence.

Javin sighed. "You know old friend its times like this I wish I had left you in stasis. At least then I knew you weren't talking to me because you couldn't."

Still silence.

"Okay what's wrong?" he asked, trying the direct approach.

Aerin sighed. "What are we going to do now?"

"Well we have a meeting with the Tau'ri soon but I can tell that's not what you mean. I would have thought you would be happy, we finally defeated the Wraith. This is a moment you dreamed of, it was the reason you got involved in the weapons development program. Or is this about her?"

Aerin's expression remained stony. "You know my feelings about that. What I did was for the best, for me and her."

"So you don't regret that you let her think you had died?" was the equally cold reply.

"You were the one who made my 'recovery' a secret, and we both knew the chances of it succeeding were slim," he replied, glaring at his oldest friend. "It was years before the treatment was even available. I…I couldn't put her through that."

He looked down dejected. "I am not the man I once was, I don't even look like me anymore. She wouldn't recognise me and besides she's happy now, she moved on."

"You can't hide your feelings from me old friend," said Aerin, placing a hand on his friends shoulder. "I know you wish you were the one to make her happy and not someone else. And I know you wonder what you are supposed to do now that you defeated the enemy you dedicated your life to fighting to protect the one you love."

"How is it we just defeat one enemy only to come across another? How can we fight them when they seem to know everything about us and yet we know nothing about them?"

Javin grimaced. "We can fight, as we always have, for the reasons we always have. To protect our people from those who would destroy us. We've already beaten one enemy with minimal losses it could be much worse."

Aerin sighed and straightened up. "You know I wish those speeches of yours didn't work on me."

"How do you think I got elected?"

"I have no idea. I was in stasis, remember?" he replied with a grin. "But I wish we knew something about them instead of nothing."

"We may not have facts but we have suspicions," Javin replied cryptically. "Come on the Tau'ri are waiting for us."

* * *

In a flash of light the Sovaer and Jakose appeared on the observation deck of the Weir with their backs to the window, and were startled by the sight of their welcome party. Standing before them, forming a horse shoe that left them completely surrounded was Colonel Sheppard and a dozen marines, each of which had an assault rifle aimed at them.

"Now that you're here gentlemen I was hoping you could answer a question for me," said Sheppard gravely. "Care to explain why the people who supposedly attacked you were using Averian technology?"

Sovaer's expression was a mixture of shock and disbelief, but that quickly turned to horror as he saw his friend's features twist into a grimace.

* * *

**Please review.**


	24. Answers are hard to find

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Well if you're going to provide such a good read for me its the least i can do to provide a good read for you. **

**Shadows-of-Realm: We shall see, eventually we shall see. **

**stark40763: You are fully entitled to guess, but you are going to have to keep reading to find out.**

**DaletheChu: Yeah RL can cause problems, but i am determined to post new chapters for this story. **

* * *

"I think an explanation is in order here," Jakose stated deceptively calmly. "What are you basing these accusations on exactly?"

"Yes," Sovaer started angrily. "And what exactly are you even accusing us of?"

"We are not accusing you of anything," Sheppard replied in a tone that mirrored Jakose'. "We just want answers."

Sovaer scoffed, his head twisting to look at the marines in a half circle. His expression stated that there presence made for an accusation by itself, but his darting eyes that examined each one suggested he was considering them a nuisance he would have to deal with.

"Your presence here necessitates theirs," said Sheppard, answering the unasked question.

"You think he is worthy of a dozen of, what I am sure are, your best men to be contained?" asked Jakose, keeping a straight face. "One ordinary man."

"Considering what I've seen, and what I know," Sheppard replied evenly. "I can say for certain he is no ordinary man."

Jakose narrowed his eyes at Sheppard, studying the man before him. Clearly he knew. He knew and he knew that he knew he knew. And yet he was being careful to make sure his men didn't know. The way they tightened the grips on their weapons suggested that they considered Sovaer to be a dangerous threat now more than ever but they weren't edgy. If they knew his secret they would be a lot more nervous, not sure what he might do or even what he could do. If they knew then they wouldn't be looking at him like he was a man who might reach for a weapon, in many ways he was a weapon. So Sheppard was being considerate and hadn't told them more than was necessary, but he had a lot of men ready so that Sovaer wouldn't even try to make a move. So, this man was both considerate and cautious, and worried for the safety of his men. And at some level he trusted them still. He wanted a valid explanation for what they had found. It was probably the only reason they hadn't been beamed into a holding cell or an interrogation room. So…he was being diplomatic but cautious, and he sure as hell wanted answers.

"Sovaer," said Jakose, while maintaining eye contact with Sheppard. "Sit down."

"Minister?"

"I said sit down. On the floor now."

"Yes Minister."

"Wait," ordered Jakose. "Take off your coat."

There was a pause before Sovaer said, "Yes Minister."

Sovaer flexed his shoulders and rolled them back, allowing the black leather coat he wore to slip free and fall to the floor, revealing the shoulder holster he wore and the two energy pistols it held.

"Take off the holster and then sit down."

Sovaer stared at his friend, his face a picture of disbelief.

"That was an order."

Without even looking Jakose could feel the glare burning into him. It was not malicious. It was anger at being told to put himself in a position where he could not protect his friend. And yet he complied.

Slowly he raised his hands, taking his time so as not to spook the marines, reaching up and grasping the straps across his shoulders. Carefully he lifted the holster up until the strap that would normally rest across his back was above his head and then with a flick of his wrists sent the whole thing flying forwards, clattering to the floor. Once it had landed he lowered himself to the floor, sitting with his legs and arms crossed and his face a stone mask.

"Now," said Jakose. "I think these men and women can lower their weapons."

Sheppard nodded before saying, calmly and clearly, "lower your weapons."

The marines complied, slowly lowering their rifles until they were hanging from their shoulders by the strap. With their weapons hanging there they gave off an image of being non-threatening but that image never reached their eyes. Each marine was watching the acknowledged threat in the room and Sovaer was looking right back at them. They may have been told to lower their weapons but it was obvious by the way their hands remained holding the butt of the rifles, within easy reach of the trigger, that they were being nothing short of professional about this situation. Call it fear, call it pride, call it what you will, they were anything but incautious.

Nevertheless, with this one act of trust by both sides, the tension in the room had dropped significantly, despite the stare down between the marines and the bodyguard.

Sovaer however, once he saw the marines lower their respective weapons, decided to end the staring contest before it could begin. Clasping his hands behind his head he leaned his body back until he was resting against the rungs of the railing behind him, his eyes gently closed. Upon seeing this out of the corner of his eye a small smile was very briefly noticeable on Jakose lips.

He never changes, he thought.

"I think an explanation would be necessary Colonel Sheppard," said Jakose. "What are you basing these extraordinary claims on?"

"Cold hard evidence," said a familiar voice in the back of the room.

Sheppard stepped aside and Rodney McKay strode forwards from his unnoticed position at the back of the room.

"Perhaps you could be more specific?" enquired Jakose, causing Sovaer to smirk, his eyes remaining closed.

"We found that the aliens who attacked _Hope_ station had some Averian technology in their possession," the physicist replied.

"The side arms that your bodyguard uses," Sheppard added.

"How do you know this for certain?" asked Sovaer, his eyes now wide open.

Rodney's answer was to snap his fingers and in response a holographic screen appeared between them generated by ISIS. Displayed on the screen, with crystal clarity, were the collection of pistols taken from the alien corpses. They were all carbon copies of the pair Sovaer himself had used against the Wraith and were even now lying on the floor.

"Where did you get those?" Sovaer asked seriously.

Even as he asked the question the image changed to show the corpses of the aliens from the recovered fighter, along with the fighter itself.

Jakose and Sovaer could only stare at the image before them as countless thoughts reverberated around their minds. Finally though Jakose found his voice.

"What are they?"

"From what we can tell," said Sheppard. "They were grown in a lab using a combination of human and Wraith genetics. They were aboard that fighter which we found adrift in the Hope system after the battle and each of them was armed with one of those weapons."

Sovaer shook himself.

"This is hardly proof that we are involved with them though," he argued. "That pistol design has been around for far longer than I've been alive. Just because they look the same doesn't mean the two are identical if the technology inside is different."

"You're right," Rodney admitted. "The technology does appear to be slightly different. Those pistols fire a green energy bolt, where as yours fire a red bolt."

Sovaer smirked.

"However," Rodney continued, causing Sovaer's smile to waver. "That doesn't explain where they got the design from nor is it the only piece of technology we found."

"And what else did you find?" asked Jakose.

"Well ignoring the fact that their ships seem to be giving off an energy reading similar to your own there is the fighter circuitry," said Rodney.

"Go on."

"The visual screens in the fighter uses the same baseline design as an example of technology we know you have," said Rodney.

"Which technology?" enquired Jakose.

To answer Rodney pulled out of his pocket a small rectangular device with a screen set into the surface. It took Jakose a moment but at last he realised what it was, the computer they had given the Tau'ri that contained a copy of their history. In his head the wheels started to turn.

"You can understand our surprise when it turned out the technology was similar," said Sheppard. "Especially since I'm presuming this particular piece is rather outdated by your standards?"

Jakose nodded, still mulling over his thoughts. For security purposes the device was antiquated and defunct, and no doubt the Tau'ri had done the same.

"Which means someone way back in your history gained access to a significant amount of your tech base," said Rodney. "Even if it isn't up to date they clearly have the expertise to utilise it effectively."

"The question is," said Sheppard. "Who?"

Jakose was still deep in his thoughts and remained silent, which gave Sovaer plenty of time to ponder what the hell had just happened. Now that he thought about it the Tau'ri clearly trusted them on some level otherwise they wouldn't be in this situation. It was a given that a man like him would have some other weapons about his person for when he happened to lack his pair of energy pistols but the marines had still lowered their weapons nonetheless. Clearly they wanted answers, and he had to admit that in a roundabout way this was a pretty good way of going about it. They had acknowledged right away that they were playing the suspicious bugger but they were willing to give him and Jakose the benefit of the doubt. You could call what they had done scare tactics designed to see how an opponent would react without causing any risk to your own side. Sovaer just thought of it as devious and very effective, and he couldn't really fault them for it despite how much it annoyed him. When it came down to it they had sufficient reason to be suspicious and the tactic had told them what they needed to know. Minister Jakose, his oldest friend, knew something. That much had been clear the second the unspoken accusation had been implied. Somewhere in his mind something had resonated to the question that had been actually been asked and the result had shown on his face even if his friend wasn't sure why. Aside from that one lapse his friend had played the part he expected, the diplomat faced with a tricky negotiation with someone who thought there was fair reason for distrust. Now was not the time to interrupt his friend's musings, because he wanted to find out just what was in that head that had caused so much trepidation. Like the Tau'ri he wanted even the slightest clue as to who this enemy was.

Suddenly Jakose head snapped up, his eyes locking with Sheppard's.

"I think I might know," he admitted. "There are things I need to check first but if I am right then it could change everything."

The seriousness of his expression stopped any objections before they could even be voiced. Subjected to the unwavering tone Sheppard found himself nodding without fully being aware of doing it.

Unnoticed, except by the marines maintaining their vigil watch, Sovaer leaned his body forwards putting his weight on his hands, bringing his legs beneath his torso. Slowly his legs uncoiled, pushing him up and onto his feet. Striding forwards he moved to his friend's side.

"I trust him with my life Colonel Sheppard. He has earned that trust so I hope you will trust him as well."

Jakose couldn't help but smile at his friends kind words.

Sheppard sighed.

"Alright fine, I'll give you a few hours to do what you have to."

"I appreciate," Jakose said sincerely.

"I just hope I'm wrong," he added so quietly that no one heard him.

* * *

"Well that went well," said Rodney, to which Sheppard couldn't help but snort.

The Averian's had been transported back to Hope and now the pair were wandering through the corridors of the Weir, passing various crew members along the way, each one heading to places unknown.

"Yeah as well it could go considering we practically accused our newest allies of double dealing," Sheppard said drawly.

"Hey we had to know," Rodney protested. "Besides do you really buy that they would attack their own base for who knows what reason in an attempt to trick us for who knows what reason? We gave them the time they needed and hopefully we'll soon have the answers we need."

"Yeah but remind me again who has to report this latest update to General O'Neill?"

"Hmm now let me see," Rodney replied, pretending to think about it. "It's you isn't it?"

"Yes Rodney, it is me."

"Is there anything that actually says you have to report it directly to him?" Rodney asked, the unseen cogs already turning.

"Well no," Sheppard admitted. "But he's going to get the news eventually. And when he does it's anyone's guess how he takes it."

"So make sure he finds out from someone he likes," suggested Rodney.

"Like who?"

"Easy, Sam."

Sheppard paused halfway down the vacant corridor.

"You mean Colonel Carter?"

"Yep," the Canadian replied smugly.

"Why her?"

Sheppard, like a lot of people who ended up working with one of the pair, had heard the rumours about how the two had had a thing for each other for years. Of course with the regulations as they were neither had acted on it. At the time he didn't know what to make of it but maybe, just maybe, Rodney knew something he didn't, about this.

"Can you keep a secret?" Rodney asked, lowering his voice.

"Yeah," was Sheppard's intrigued reply.

Rodney darted his head back and forth, quickly confirming that the corridor was indeed empty, before lowering his voice to a whisper.

"They're secretly married."

Sheppard was stunned, literally stunned to the point where he could feel his jaw hanging loose.

"What? When? How the hell do you know even that?" he asked, flabbergasted.

"Jennifer told me," he explained. "Back when we were trapped in that mine Sam told her about a guy she was interested in who was retiring soon, when we got back to Earth a couple of months ago she asked Sam if anything had come of it. Anyway you remember how a few months ago there was that thing over General O'Neill retiring?"

Sheppard nodded. He did indeed remember it well, the general had been set to retire before Atlantis had made its appearance over Earth. Once that happened the general was very quickly recalled to full duty so everything could be sorted out. As the president had put it, someone has to deal with the IOA and the general certainly had the experience.

"Well," continued Rodney. "When it turned out his retirement was being cut short he went to Sam, now they both knew that regulations would prevent them from continuing a relationship and the IOA would have a field day. So he proposed they get married so they could continue seeing each other, literally proposed from what I heard."

"That sneaky son of a…" Sheppard said trailing off. "I've seen the two of them together and I never suspected a thing."

Rodney shrugged. "Years of practice I guess."

"So what did the IOA do?"

John couldn't imagine the IOA not making a big deal out of this, anything to squeeze some control out of Homeworld Command.

"They don't know," explained Rodney. "Well most of them don't. They haven't seemed to notice yet. Apparently the additions to files paperwork went through Woolsey's desk."

John couldn't help but laugh at that. O'Neill and Woolsey were certainly turning out to be a formidable team. The soldier and the bureaucrat. Who knew what they would try next.

"Why am I only just finding out about this?" John couldn't help but ask.

"It's a secret, so keep it to yourself."

After all a secret wasn't a secret if everyone knew.

* * *

The great city of _Atlantis_ rested calmly on the ocean surface, her graceful form unmarked and untouched by the ten millennia she had spent underwater. Ironically the most damage done to the great city was caused after the arrival of the expedition. The most annoying, from the perspective of anyone who had tried to repair the damage, was caused when the shield was offline and incapable of protecting the city from the mega storm that had hit. The resulting volumes of water that had cascaded into the city had resulted in large amounts of flooding, with the water seeping in whether it could. This water had then lingered, even after the near miraculous survival of the city, in some of the lower levels as the tremendous pressure being exerted, not to mention lightning, had resulted in numerous leaks. Since they were in no position to move the city into dry dock to repair the holes in her underbelly the sea water found itself with a firm foothold.

The sea water had ironically caused more damage on the way down than it had just by lingering, while primary systems had not been adversely affected the more vulnerable secondary systems had which included internal sensors. Of course after the whole Asuran's in _Atlantis_ incident General O'Neill would argue that it's not such a bad thing to have a blind spot so long as you know where it is and the enemy don't.

Then of course there was the damage caused by the numerous attacks on the city of the years. For a time the worst damage ever caused to the city had been from the energy beam that had, for lack of a better word, clipped the city during the Asuran attack. That damage had proved to be largely superficial once the power conduits had been repaired but at the time it was the most critical damage that had been inflicted. A few patches on the side of the tower had covered the holes, which was something the engineering teams were capable of performing given the circumstances.

For all intent and purposes though the most damage taken had been during the battle over Earth. The ageing city ship slugging it out with a ZPM powered hive ship, with a depleting power supply and a degrading orbit are bound to leave their marks. They were fortunate that there had been no adverse effects caused by using the highly experimental and so far untested wormhole drive. The constant barrage of energy blasts, consistently striking the wall like shield of the city ship had had the unfortunate side affect of knocking the city out of orbit and into Earths atmosphere. The resulting meteor like re-entry had taxed the power conduits channelling energy to the shield to the limit and beyond, which had resulted in damage to the emitters, the power grid, the hull and the superstructure. The repair teams that inspected the damage marvelled at how well the city had withstood the impact of hitting the water at such speed and marvelled at the strength of the inertial dampeners, which had softened the landing. Those who had been in the city at the time said the inertial dampeners needed to be a bit stronger because they swore that when the city landed they bounced.

Eventually the city had been moved away from San Francisco bay, and a spectacular view, to the small island owned by the United States Air Force. In the specially converted bay/dry-dock the city had finally undergone repairs to bring her back to some resemblance of what she had once been ten thousand years ago. Of course the cosmetic repairs and the draining of the flooded sections were just to bring the city up to working standards. However the people of Earth had found themselves with an opportunity that they had dreamed of for years, a chance to not only rebuild but to upgrade as well.

_Atlantis_ was an inspiring creation. A city capable of travelling from one galaxy to another can only be described as at least being such. The Tau'ri had looked at the city the moment it had touched down and they had been inspired. Over the next two months scientists and engineers flocked to the city like moths drawn to a flame. The halls were filled with the sounds of maintenance teams and repair crews working tirelessly to not only repair the great city but to understand it. This was an opportunity to study a technological marvel built by the Alterans at the height of their technological prowess and they were not about to pass it up. While repairs were being made schematics of the city were being created, information for which was drawn both from the information stored in the database and visual data gleamed from the repair operations. Slowly a picture was being formed of what made this great city tick. But with the repair work being a relatively simple matter with the expertise and the technology at hand efforts were turned to a more appetising question. They knew how to her ticking over nicely, now they wanted to see how they could make her tick louder, faster and longer, a challenge that many relished.

The Tau'ri had been inspired to build upon the marvel they found themselves with and they very quickly set to work. Unbeknownst to most plans for how to improve the great city had been in the works for some time. It had started simply as a wish list for what _Atlantis_ could use once the technology was more readily available and had grown from there. But once _Atlantis_ was back on Earth the plans had also grown to include things from if we had the time and the manpower list, which had naturally included repairing the hull and draining the flooded areas.

The refit had been a monumental undertaking in that it was something that had never before been attempted. Instead of tacking on advanced technology to their own they would be stacking advanced technology onto very different advanced technology. The first thing that had been insisted on was the addition of the four power generators to the city. With those tied into the power grid, as well as recharging the present ZPM's, it was possible to add additional power consuming technology. Lessons had been learned from the past and the first year of the expedition had put in perspective exactly what a city needs in order to operate independently. Now the Tau'ri planned on making sure that the city was capable of functioning even if they were under siege and cut off from supplies. This mainly took the form of a number of matter synthesisers designed to manufacture the basic necessities, namely food, water and various medical supplies, but with the addition of a single large industrial scale synthesiser it was also possible to produce other needed items.

There were however, limits to what could be done in the time frame that _Atlantis_ had resided on Earth. While a complete refit for the city was out of the question it was possible to make small but notable additions to the city that would greatly improve her chances of surviving a siege situation. Reconfiguring the power grid in such a way as to accommodate both the generators recharging two ZPM's while a third provided power to the city had been a relatively minor operation given that the system was already designed to receive power from the three sources simultaneously. Isolating the feeds and rerouting around them to create a direct path from the generators in the cities underbelly had solved the issue of preventing power failure to the rest of the city. The actual idea of how to recharge the ZPM was actually so obvious when realised that it was almost laughable. The ZPM's were essentially batteries, admittedly they were incredibly advanced and very, very powerful but the idea was the same. The interface in _Atlantis_ could already do the hard part, which was to extract the energy from the crystalline device, so a flow of energy could already be created. Recharging the ZPM's just meant that flow of energy was reversed so that it was being sent into the pocket dimension rather than drawn out. Also if necessary all they had to do was reverse the power flow and the ZPM's immediately started sending power into the city systems at much higher rates than a generator could.

But incorporating shiny new weapons into the city was not as simple as it sounded, due to the fact that they would not only require a link to the power systems but the city control systems as well. The matter synthesisers were quite easy to add to the power grid since it just meant they had to tap a power feed off the main grid and not link the control systems to the rest of the city. If they wanted to install weapon systems that could be controlled by the systems in the control room they would have to run kilometres of hard lines through the city as well as install a dedicated control station. Now such a task was possible but it would mean disassembling a fair part of the city they had just put back together again, and it meant the weapons would be incredibly vulnerable to damage. One small cut in one small wire and an entire piers weapon grid could be disabled. Okay so it wasn't going to actually be that vulnerable but the point still remained that it would be much more vulnerable than they would like. So they made a compromise that would allow them to retain full control of the weapons systems and not have to install miles of vulnerable cable and a control system, they used the control chair.

The control chairs were already capable of being establishing a remote interface with whatever was fitted with a necessary command receiver tied into each of the systems. Various systems around the city, and in other Alteran outposts, already possessed such receivers, it was part of the reason they had been able to simply swap out the chairs that controlled Earths defences and why they had been able to change the chairs location from Antarctica to Area 51. Set the receivers to right frequency, because there was no known way to change the base programming of a control chair, and the systems in the control chair would automatically interface the weapon systems as part of the control commands. APB's, ICT's and even a number of Grodin's had been added to the cities already formidable compliment of drones and railgun emplacements. The ICT's came with their own independent power supply so no one had hesitated to add a sizeable number of them to the city. The design for the Grodin weapons installed on each pier meant that the capacitor could slowly charge without taxing power to the shield. In fact the only weapon that would cause any major drain to the energy reserves were the plasma beams and even then they should be easily sustained by the newly installed generators. Either way if anyone planned on attacking this city then they were looking at one hell of a fight.

This had all been seen and noted, by a much heard of ascended being, a long time ago, and now Janus was off trying to find something else to captivate his interest.

* * *

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	25. Old and new memories

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: I hope you aren't dissapointed after all the anticipation of what is to come and i hope i am able to surprise you with what i have in store.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: He is a scientist who needs something to interest him, i better find something quickly.**

**StarEcho: Thanks for pointing that out, even now when i look back at old chapters i seem to find some small detail i missed. Enjoy. **

**DaletheChu: Yes he can, but maybe not for who you think.**

**kwh5953: All things come to those who wait and i can only squeeze so much into a chapter. But don't worry your wishes were already being planned out when i saw the request.**

* * *

"Where is he?" asked Morgan in a frustrated tone. "How do you lose an ascended being? Now we have to find him."

"If you immediately know the candle light is fire, then the meal was cooked a long time ago," Oma replied cryptically.

Morgan fought the urge gave Oma a look, and lost. Sometimes the woman could be infuriatingly wise, other times she wasn't sure if she secretly enjoyed giving cryptic clues just to wind her up. She had a point though, they could find him easily enough with their abilities and that was the only hard part of the ordeal. It was however annoying that they had to look for him in the first place. Or rather she had to look for him, Oma would help but as far as she was concerned Janus would eventually turn up.

Rather like a bad penny as some humans would say, Morgan thought.

"But getting the flame is not so hard," Morgan replied. "Where do you think he is?"

Oma raised an eyebrow. "Knowing Janus…"

"He got bored and went to find something interesting," finished Morgan.

"Janus will always be Janus," said Oma. "He can be nothing more and nothing less."

"He's not in this galaxy so that leaves Ida or Avalon. He was complaining that Ida was boring since the Asgard are only rebuilding at the moment."

"Avalon it is then."

"Come on then. The sooner we find him the sooner I can yell at him for running off without telling anyone where he was going."

* * *

Janus as it happened was in the Avalon galaxy, or as the Tau'ri thought of it the Milky Way galaxy. More specifically he was taking a look at the events happening on Dakara.

Dakara was a sacred place for Jaffa, being the world where the first Jaffa had been implanted by a Goa'uld symbiote but also marked the turning point in the Jaffa's history. Once the planet had been successfully captured by the rebellion, and attempts by both the Goa'uld and even the 'plague' of replicators had been repulsed, Jaffa across the galaxy had turned on the false gods that enslaved them and fought for their freedom. During the Ori invasion of the galaxy their assault on the planet had resulted in the destruction of the superweapon and a large number of the surrounding buildings. The Jaffa had since been working tirelessly to rebuild and repair the damage that had been wrought and the signs of battle had almost been removed. Now the only remains were the devastated mountain and the debris its collapse had left behind, a monument to the hardships they had endured.

At the request of Teal'c the Asgard had sent a small delegation to the planet that was once again the centre of the Free Jaffa Nation. The collection of scientists had been busy teaching any Jaffa who would learn about the technology that was at their disposal. The Jaffa had been trained in both using the technology, and naturally in combat, since childhood. Some had even picked up a working knowledge of the technology over the years, having been deemed the favourite of a Goa'uld technician tired of having to do everything or having spent the majority of their lives in the shipyards. Unfortunately these Jaffa were few and far in between and the short supply was costing the Jaffa. Their skills were greatly needed to help the Jaffa expand by teaching others and working on the run ragged fleet, but of course they couldn't do both. The Asgard had proposed that the Jaffa who wanted to learn divide their time between both lessons and acting as apprentices to the more qualified Jaffa engineers.

While the Goa'uld had trained the Jaffa to fight against other Jaffa and to act a suppression force for the human worlds in their domain it was obvious to Teal'c that this would need to change. The Jaffa were no longer a force of oppression, they had taken it upon themselves to act as guardians of the human worlds that the Goa'uld had enslaved and in return the humans would pay taxes to them. As it stood this wasn't proving to be easy without a currency based economic system but over time this would hopefully change. It was obvious though that change would take time and that they would have to wait for the system to stabilise and the Jaffa to learn about the technology they were using. However Teal'c realised that they could use what he had learned over the course of the rebellion right now. The results of the lessons learned were already beginning to show for the Jaffa, both technologically and in their society.

The Jaffa were primarily a warrior people, they each had fought for decades and in the case of the more senior Jaffa for over a century. Most had been born into a world where they had to fight for survival practically every other day against an enemy that were only doing the same, other Jaffa. The Jaffa right of passage was not, as some might think, the day they receive their symbiote which was a fact they were very grateful for. It was in fact the day that their training as Jaffa ends, not that it could be considered training since it was basically a series of skirmishes against other Jaffa groups. The day their training ends is the day the games become real, and it becomes survival of the fittest. In the eyes of the Goa'uld only the strongest should survive and that belief had led to the premature death of more Jaffa than it bore thinking about.

One of the first things the FJN had done was to end that particular right of passage immediately. The games still continued, using intar weapons of course, as they had served as training methods for millennia past, but Teal'c felt that more was needed if the Jaffa were to match the combat abilities that the Tau'ri had displayed. The training was not the real problem that the Jaffa faced in that regard as the combat experience and the fear of 'death' were excellent learning experiences. Once the plans for the new final test for the Jaffa in training was complete then the Jaffa would be required to meet a standard that would match the skill of the Tau'ri. No, the problem was the weapons the Jaffa used. As O'Neill had once said the staff weapon was a weapon of terror and the same could be said of all other Jaffa weapons as well as their armour. The armour a Jaffa wore consisted of steel plating over a chainmail suit, and against energy and ballistic weapons it was next to useless. The newer versions that were being experimented with incorporated trinium plating into the design. Trinium was both lighter and stronger than steel but it was harder to acquire and more valuable, not that Teal'c was going to let that bother him.

Re-designing the armour to incorporate new materials was the easy part, while weaponry was a whole other matter entirely. The Jaffa staff weapons were excellent weapons for ceremony and for honour guards but they were not appropriate weapons of war. Given that they were bulky, had a low rate of fire and were incredibly hard to aim at a distance any re-design would have account for these deficiencies. Zat's were slightly better but they were flawed along the same lines given that they were larger than necessary and did not have a dedicated iron sight. They were very effective as a stun weapon, but in that regard did have the unfortunate side effect of potentially killing a subject if they were accidently shot twice. A lower powered version, like those recovered from killed Ori soldiers, would render this problem moot. Teal'c however wanted to give his soldiers the option of both. He was pushing for a design with a safety catch that would change the setting of the weapon from stun to potentially lethal if hit twice.

But while the zat would essentially be a modified version of the original design the primary weapon of the Jaffa would be completely different. Teal'c had come to admire the practicality of the Tau'ri rifle weapons and was hoping to see that kind of practicality reproduced. Working with the Asgard the Jaffa engineers had come up with a design that offered the power and durability of a staff weapon combined with the accuracy and versatility of a rifle. The end design was light and compact but also very deadly, the first Jaffa plasma rifle. The technical specifications for the prototype included a plasma repeater as the primary discharge, an under mounted plasma cannon and a retractable electronic sight, all of which was powered by a liquid naquadah power cell. The plasma repeater was the equivalent of the kull warrior's wrist weapons, while the plasma cannon had the strength of the staff cannon.

Teal'c was very pleased with the prototype and already had Jaffa putting the weapon through its paces readying it for mass production. The other Jaffa were initially sceptical about the weapons capabilities so Teal'c proposed the Jaffa have a 'game', with one side using intar versions of the plasma rifle and the other intar staff weapons.

Janus had turned up to watch the day's events and was enjoying himself immensely with his ascended observation point, it wasn't long into the morning that Oma and Morgan found him. He told them, very politely, that he intend to stay where he was and invited them to do the same.

By lunch time, and about half way through the day, the Jaffa had been already gone through several battles. Teal'c had been momentarily overwhelmed when the entire side using staff weapons immediately came to him and demanded that, in the interest of fairness, they be allowed to use trade weapons with the other side. The glee that they had displayed when Teal'c had agreed had both pleased and pleasantly surprised the ageing Jaffa. The reason for this was blatantly obvious to those who had been able to see the way the battles had progressed over time. The Jaffa with staff weapons had eventually found themselves being sniped from a great distance at little risk to the other side. But now that they had plasma rifles they found that they could exact the same retribution to the other side, and were enjoying it immensely. In the interest of fairness however both sides were eventually issued with plasma rifles, the point having been made.

Once again however the Jaffa found that they had to change their tactics as they adapted to this new type of warfare. The weapon you wield defines how you fight, especially when you find yourself with a whole new range of options available to you. The Jaffa didn't even know the meaning of the word sniper until they had found themselves sniping the enemy thanks to the rifles high powered electronic scope. Before they had been using weapons that were next to useless at long range when it came to accurately hitting a target, except on mass, but now they could stand very far back and still score a hit. They were now practically relearning how to fight, adapting to the weapons of their opponents and the weapons they themselves now wielded, and they were getting very good at it.

"Fascinating design," said Janus, examining one of the prototype weapons. "Deadly and yet rather elegant in its nature, and the power source is brilliant."

"Where did you get that from?" asked Morgan. She could have sworn that he hadn't actually gone anywhere and yet he suddenly seemed to be holding one of the rifles in his hands.

"Oh from one of the storage units in their camp, it won't be missed for a while," he said offhandedly. "Now as I was saying this weapon uses a liquid naquadah power cell which means that it shouldn't run out of energy for a very long time. A Jaffa could grow old and die before his weapon even runs out of juice."

"Yes, yes very nice," said Morgan dismissively. "Now will you please put it back before someone wonders where it went."

"Of course," said Janus, and in the blink of an eye the weapon had vanished. No doubt it was now resting comfortably back in its cradle from wherever Janus had found it. "You know it really is interesting to watch how the Jaffa have progressed over the years. I can't help but wonder what they will be like in just a few more years."

"You cannot know the depth of the river until you see the bottom," Oma said casually.

Janus sidled up to Morgan and whispered in her ear. "I think I understood that, how about you?"

"I think so," replied Morgan, although she sounded uncertain. "But with her you can never be sure."

"True," admitted Janus.

"When the mind is enlightened the body matters not," said Oma, causing the others to wince. She had heard them.

Oma turned to look at the pair.

"Oh and you two," she said. "Lightning flashes, sparks showers, in one blink of an eye, you have missed seeing."

And with that she was away, leaving the others where they were and slightly perplexed.

"She was trying to tell us that something interesting is about to happen, right?" asked Morgan.

"I think so," said Janus uncertainly.

His eyes widened with realisation. "And we're going to miss it."

The two glanced at each other before they shot off after her.

* * *

**_Weir_ - Bridge**

"Sheppard," said McKay. "We're receiving a transmission from _Hope_. Apparently Jakose has something."

"They say anything else?"

"Just that we need to agree on a neutral place…and they have a suggestion."

Sheppard sighed.

"Okay tell me."

"They want to use the _Arima_."

The silence was palpable, even the bridge crew had turned to look at the physicist.

"Why?" It was the only thing that Sheppard could think to ask.

"They just say that they think it should definitely be the _Arima_."

The fact that they had specifically requested the _Arima_ was significant. As a rule if the Wraith flagship was present then Echidna would also have to be present. She was after all the only one capable of piloting the thing through hyperspace to get here.

"Anything else?"

"Just that they want a few hours to get some things ready for the meeting. I'd say they need to get people brought here." Rodney shrugged, it wasn't that surprising. The Averians were probably calling in people who would be better suited to give them the information they were after.

"That stargate we gave them not operational then?" Sheppard asked casually.

"Probably not," admitted McKay. "They never used one in the past for security reasons so they need to set up a proper space for it. They are probably more interested in fortifying their position before they bring it online, it's not like they lack ships to make the trip."

That was true. The Averians had been building up their fleet for a long time now and arguably had the largest fleet in the galaxy. The Tau'ri and the Asgard could probably match them if they worked at it, using their highly advanced production techniques, but for now the Averians easily beat both in terms of numbers. Strength however was a different matter. Even Echidna had been awed by the capabilities of a lone Asgard warship.

"Confirm that we'll request the Arima's presence and be sure to tell them when we get confirmation." There was no doubt in Sheppard's mind that the Matriarch would be attend, she would no doubt be just as curious as they were. "Then I want you to contact Atlantis and tell Woolsey that we need him here and that Echidna should be picking him up and then send the request to Echidna."

"You really think she'll come…yeah she'll come."

* * *

**_Arima_ – Echidna's Chambers**

It had been a long day for the Matriarch as is, as she was coming to learn, every day when you are building an empire that spans the stars from practically the ground up. The old Wraith had never really established a true infrastructure because they never really needed one, why would they? They had their independent feeding grounds, their hive ships and even a few outposts used for building ships and research purposes. There was nothing more they needed. The closest thing to what Echidna was trying to achieve on every single planet she had was what the traitor twins had built in secret to guard against the risk of her return and now even that was nothing more than scorched wasteland. She was exhausted from her efforts and right now she was supposed to be working but her son had noticed how hard she was pushing herself and had decided to forget to wake her. In his mind she needed the extra hours, they would do her good.

The universe, however, is full of possibilities, and while she slept old memories began to surface in the form of dreams.

She opened her eyes and found herself in a room on _Atlantis_, the architecture easily recognisable to her and yet the room seemed odd. The colours were wrong, too dark, too vague, like they missing something. Sitting up she realised she was lying on a medical table, fully clothed and unbound, and yet she could not escape the feeling of unease at her situation. Something was about to happen to her.

"It will be alright Echidna," said a familiar voice on her left.

She twisted her head and suddenly standing next to her was Thypeous, and it was as if he had been there all along.

He gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to lie back down.

"Do not worry. I am here, and I am not going anywhere," he assured her.

Slowly a feeling of calm seeped into her body from where his hand still rested on her shoulder. She knew that what he said was true. He would stay throughout the whole procedure.

"It is time," said a voice to her right.

Stood there was a faceless figure, she did not know. She did not know his name, she had never asked. He was just a physician charged with a task to perform by the council. He was going to infuse her DNA with a serum. Her DNA, she had been told, had shown a level of adaptability that was unique amongst their people. It had been determined that the strands were capable of mutating over time to adapt to survive when subjected to threats and it was hoped that the serum would accelerate that process exponentially. She had been told that this could greatly aid their quest to someday ascend and exist as beings as pure energy, un-ageing and forever eternal. For this experiment she would greatly rewarded and she was happy to participate in the name of discovery. The opportunity to live with Thypeous forever was too good to pass up.

Thypeous kept his hand in place on her shoulder, while his other hand clasped her own warmly. He wasn't going anywhere.

The faceless physician lowered an injection device to her neck and pulled the trigger. As the vile was emptied Echidna screwed up her eyes and gripped her loves hand tighter, refusing to relax her grip until the strange feeling that coursed through her body subsided. As her pounding heart began to still and her lungs became able to contain air for more than a moment once again she opened her eyes, and saw Todd looming above her with his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright mother?" he asked, his tone betraying his concern.

Echidna groaned as her brain processed her surroundings and recollection came upon her.

"I am fine," she assured him groggily.

"We have received a request from the Tau'ri," said Todd. "They and the Averians request to use the _Arima_ for a meeting regarding the unknowns who attacked the Averians."

"Did they say why?"

Todd shook his head. "No, but if they want the _Arima_ present then they want you to hear what they have to discuss."

"Then I will go," said Echidna, rising from the bed. "And you are coming with me. I want your perspective on these talks."

"As you wish mother," he replied, following her out the door. He knew not to argue, for more reasons than he cared to list.

* * *

**_Arima_ – A few hours later**

In a flash of light that heralded the arrival of an individual courtesy of Asgard beaming technology a balding man in an _Atlantis_ expedition command uniform appeared on the bridge of the _Arima_.

The man immediately took in his surroundings, noting the numerous Wraith lining the walls of the room, all of which were armed with spear stun guns and wore the uniform of drones complete with face masks. These warriors had been selected as the finest of all the Wraith warriors and were charged with a single duty, guard the Arima and protect the ship and the Matriarch from hostile forces. It was a duty they would perform with unwavering dedication ever since the neural inhibitor had been removed from their genetic makeup. And sitting comfortably on the ships control chair, with Todd, her right hand, at her side was Echidna.

"Greetings Matriarch," intoned Richard Woolsey. "It is good to see you again."

"As it is you Administrator Woolsey," Echidna replied curtly. "I hope Atlantis fares well. I know what a hard task it must be, being in charge of my former home."

Woolsey smiled warmly. "Not as hard a task as you must surely have, nor as ambitious. Establishing an infrastructure for an entire empire is something that many can only dream of even beginning to effectively co-ordinate. You should be applauded for your efforts."

Echidna smirked. "Having telepathy certainly seems to speed things up."

Indeed the establishment of the empire was progressing in leaps and bounds at a time. Already entire colonies were beginning to take shape as the bio-technology of the Wraith allowed for hundreds of buildings to be grown at once as the seeds were planted. It was truly astonishing what a hive mind race could accomplish, or any race for that matter, when a task was undertaken with such determination. Working on a collective level, undivided for the first time in ten millennia, the Wraith possessed a level of co-ordination that was almost frightening. It would certainly be interesting to see what they would become in just a few years, never mind a few hundred.

"I can only imagine," Woolsey replied. "Thank you picking me up by the way, I hope it didn't cause you any inconvenience."

"Your thanks are appreciated but unnecessary. It is in the spirit of friendship that I do this. I owe your people much already so a lift is the least I can do."

"Besides," she added. "We have been invited to the meeting as well."

* * *

**_Hope_ Station Space **

A good distance from where the mighty station lay, and coincidentally between both the station and the _Weir_ itself, a hyperspace window tore open and the _Arima_ and her fifteen sentinels returned to normal space. The sentinels quickly followed their programming and moved into formation around the ship, taking up position to at the very least act as a defence screen.

Woolsey was quickly beamed aboard the _Weir_ to meet with Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay. The biggest question on his mind was what the hell had been happening in his absence from the diplomatic arena. He couldn't help but wonder why a neutral location was needed.

"Gentleman," said Woolsey, as he was beamed over. "I have just one question. What has been happening that requires a neutral meeting ground between our allies."

The pair looked at each other, trying to decide who was going to go first.

"If I might help here," said ISIS, appearing like a ghost amongst the group. "I can show you a full recording of the meeting."

"Do it," said Sheppard, a little too quickly for Woolsey's liking. Sheppard however didn't notice since he was too busy thanking the Asgard for designing an AI with an evolving neural net. ISIS was really beginning to understand them.

Woolsey watched the recording with rapt attention, his face a mask of stone. But when the recording ended he sighed deeply and removed his glasses to rub his eyes.

"Sometimes I don't know what to make of you two," he said. "You are complete idiots, brave fools or conniving geniuses and I really can't decide which."

John and Rodney just stood their, trying to look innocent. They had honestly been lucky and relying on the nature of Jakose to get them through that bold strategy. As it turned out it had all worked out for the best and they were about to enter a meeting to find out just who the hell was actually behind the attack on the Averians.

"Alright so what's the current situation as you two see it?" he asked.

"Well I think they still trust us," said Sheppard jokingly, only to receive a glare from Woolsey.

"They have something big to talk about," offered McKay. "Now they either want Echidna there because it's something they think she is going to want to hear or it's just to make sure we don't try anything. Given how our last meeting went and the fact that they have _Hope_ and a very large fleet parked nearby I'm leaning towards the former."

Woolsey nodded, that had been his assessment also. Jakose, from what he could tell, had taken the boys attempts at playing politics relatively well. If you even vaguely mistrusted someone you don't order your bodyguard to remove himself as a threat. And of course McKay was right about what the Averians had nearby, _Hope_ itself had been designed to be a fortress, throw in the close to two hundred warships sitting nearby and the consequences of bad feelings on the Averians part didn't even bear thinking about.

"So the Averians most likely have an answer and they want Echidna to know about it which means it will concern her," Woolsey summarised with a sigh. "Wonderful."

"On the plus side it means the alliance will have a common interest," said Sheppard.

"You realise we never actually signed an alliance with the Averians right?" said McKay.

"No we have not," confirmed Woolsey, seeing the surprised look on Sheppard's face. "I know, it was supposed to happen after this joint mission to take down the rogue Wraith but the attack forced a re-shifting of priorities. Not to mention Echidna has been quite busy lately. I think she's happy to be here just to get away from it all for a little while."

"Well a common enemy might speeds things up a bit," said Sheppard optimistically. "Unfortunately that would be a worse case scenario for us right now."

* * *

"Did you see where she went?" asked Janus.

"No but she can't of gone far," replied Morgan. "We know she is definitely in Pegasus."

"Blast it!" said an exasperated Janus. "Why did she have to make it difficult to find her?"

In their ascended forms the two were mentally searching for Oma, who had somehow managed to give them the slip after they had followed her into Pegasus. It wasn't too surprising really. They had only been able to follow her this far because it had been apparent where she was heading too, the finer details about where in the Pegasus galaxy where not so easy to guess so they now had to look for her.

Morgan snorted. "You're one to talk considering what you…wait a moment what's the _Arima_ doing parked by _Hope_?"

The two ascended Alterans looked at each other, nodded and then set off as fast as possible.

From her vantage point where the other two hadn't been looking for her, which was ironically exactly where they had just been, Oma smirked and set after them. It was nice to see that the two of them were beginning to understand each other.

* * *

**_Arima_ – Meeting Room**

The _Arima_, having been designed with a different purpose in mind than your average hive ship, had many unique features. A lot of the rooms had been designed to be more accommodating to guests and one of the results of this was the meeting room. While it bore the traditional features of a meeting room, such as a table and chairs it also possessed a specialized domed ceiling that was essentially a massive viewing screen. To the occupants of the room it was almost as if the silvery hull of the ship was absent, allowing them to see directly out into space. It certainly made for an impressive sight.

One interesting thing about the table was that it lacked chairs at both ends. Instead at one end, a little way from the table, was a large throne chair, where Echidna now sat, and on its right was a more recently added smaller throne chair on which Todd sat.

Lining the walls of the room were Wraith drones, all of them armed with spear guns which they held clasped in both hands.

It wasn't long before the delegations from the Tau'ri and the Averians arrived. The Tau'ri group consisted of Doctor McKay, Colonel Sheppard and Administrator Woolsey, while the Averian group consisted of Admirals Durra and Xander, along with Minister Jakose and Sovaer.

"Now then," said Echidna, once all were seated. "I believe there is new information about the identity of those who attacked _Hope_."

"Yes," said Jakose, as all eyes around the table came to rest on him. "I believe they are Averian."

* * *

**Please review.**


	26. Secrets Revealed

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Teal'c still has much to do, and he is going to do it if i have anything to say about it. Now you get to find out which of your theories is right my friend.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: A question you can now find the answer to, yes thats right the wait is over. If i held back any longer people would really start to hate me.**

**FendersForever: Glad you are enjoying it. To answer your question Valhalla is actually modelled more along the lines of an O'Neill warship, hence the sweeping wings and fin turrets. **

* * *

"Did he really just say…" began Janus.

"Shut up!" Morgan and Oma hissed.

The three ascended had finally met back up again, just in time it would seem for the touchdown of the latest bombshell. The advantage of their abilities meant they were in the room but none of the un-ascended could see or hear them.

"Did he really just say…" began McKay before Woolsey interrupted him.

"I think Minister you'll need to repeat that," said Woolsey. "I'm afraid we may have misheard you."

"I'm more afraid we didn't," muttered Rodney only to receive a look from Woolsey. Sheppard though couldn't help but agree with his friend.

As Minister Jakose repeated himself Woolsey made sure to focus his attention not only on the Minister but the other members of the Averian party as well. He thought he had glimpsed something in their expressions when Jakose had first made his announcement but he wasn't sure, now he was. What he had seen was surprise. It seemed they weren't the only ones to hear this news for the first time.

"I think Minister, you will need to elaborate for the benefit of all present," said Woolsey, silently placing bets on how many people in the room would actually benefit from this.

"Yes please do," added Janus, unheard.

Jakose looked hesitant. "What I am about to share with you is a highly classified secret, classified so highly that only the current and former leaders of our people have access to the knowledge. As such there are very very few people who possess this knowledge. If I am to share it with you then I must be assured of your discretion."

"Minister," Woolsey began. "We are more than aware of the need for discretion. The very nature of the information you have revealed to us thus far shows the delicateness of the situation we find us in. I realise that there are some secrets about your people and even individuals present that need to be handled with care but those of us that need to know about them do indeed know."

"And what do you know about me?" asked Sovaer, gazing sternly at the bureaucrat.

"What I need to know as a part of my position," Woolsey replied calmly. "However that is far as it has gone, the information may have gone up the chain of command and even sideways but not down. Rest assured that your secret is safe."

Soaver inclined his head. "Thank you."

"What secret is this?" asked Echidna.

The Wraith Matriarch had been watching this curious exchange with interest and a certain amount of puzzlement, but her son, she noted, had not been puzzled. Clearly he either knew more than she did or he had his suspicions.

"Don't worry," she added. "You do not have to tell me, though I suspect my son already knows."

Sovaer turned his head to glare at Todd, who nodded in acknowledgement.

"How do you know Wraith?" he asked with barely concealed hostility.

Sheppard couldn't help note just how much like Ronon the cyborg was, not that it was a surprise considering they had spent the majority of their lives with the threat of the Wraith hanging over their heads. The Satedan had also taken time to adjust to Todd but had come to have a warriors respect for the Wraith given his actions in the past few years. It helped that the majority of the Wraith had made the decision to take the treatment when it was offered but there was still a certain amount of caution displayed around them. Deep down Sheppard couldn't blame him for that, he was still cautious around them himself, but Sovaer hadn't yet developed the begrudging respect Ronon had.

Todd smirked. "I heard you talking before you got me out of that cell. Which reminds me, I never did have the chance to thank you for that, so thank you. Oh and I haven't revealed your secret either by the way."

"You're welcome and thank you," Sovaer replied.

"Not at all," said Todd, managing to get the last word in.

"It's your choice if she is allowed to know," Jakose told Sovaer.

Sovaer leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, mulling it over.

"You can tell her," he decided. "But I don't want this to become public knowledge."

"You can count on my discretion," Echidna assured him.

"Let Admiral Durra tell it, he's pretty good at it," said Sovaer, his eyes still closed.

"Very well," said Jakose before nodding at the Admiral.

Durra cleared his throat and began the same story he had told the Tau'ri and Asgard, which seemed like such a long time ago. All the while Sovaer's expression remained impassive.

When he finished Echidna looked at him with sympathy in her eyes.

"You have suffered greatly for your people," she said sadly. "But you don't need me to tell you that."

Sovaer opened his eyes to look at the two Wraith, and smiled weakly.

"We all make sacrifices for those we care about."

Echidna nodded in understanding.

"It is a sad truth but one we all have to realise sooner or later," she said with feeling. "But that is a discussion for another time, to business. You were about to explain Minister."

"Yes," managed Jakose, momentarily caught off guard. The Wraith Matriarch had managed to swiftly change the course of the conversation before anyone had realised it was coming.

"You see this group is an element of our people that was separated from our own several centuries ago."

"Like the Vanir?" enquired Sheppard.

"Definitely not," Jakose replied harshly, causing the others to flinch.

"The Vanir were stranded in this galaxy," continued Jakose. "The group of Averian's whom I believe attacked us were exiled for their crimes."

There was a sharp intake of breath at those words. Everyone wondered what these people had done to warrant exile, what crimes they must have committed.

"Perhaps you had better start at the beginning Minister," suggested Woolsey.

Jakose took a deep breath and began to explain what had happened so many centuries ago.

The Averian's had been a people united together under the banner of many causes. In the early parts of their history it had been survival, fighting against the elements and tides of nature so that their species may survive. They knew nothing of other worlds, of other civilizations, and to be honest they didn't care. Survival was the only thing they cared about and only by working together did they continue to survive. But the fight for survival is not a fight, it's not even a battle, it's a war. A war that never really ends, even though you always seem to be winning because there is always the chance the tide can turn against you. So the Averians, before they even called themselves Averians, fought on and in their efforts to live on they made a discovery. An element deep below the surface of their world, an element that proved to be the greatest jewel to ever be uncovered in a civilisation worried about damaging the world that holds them, naquadah. The potential this element holds almost defies belief, a source of more energy than they would know what to do with or the fuel for the fire of destruction. On a planet like Earth either one is a possibility but on Averia they chose to harness that power so that they might continue to survive.

In doing so they made a discovery that shook their beliefs to the core. They were forced to acknowledge the absolute truths of the universe. They were not alone, they were not the only species in the galaxy, they weren't even the only humans in existence. They had been forced to accept these truths and were filled with terror by one in particular, that they were at war. The Wraith were a threat to them, and if they were to stand any hope of survival they would have to fight. They knew that someday the Wraith might come across their world and if they did not prepare to fight this threat then it would undoubtedly destroy them.

So they prepared. For so many years the greatest minds of their race poured over the information that they had been gifted by those who had chosen to remain nameless. Technology was developed, amazing discoveries were unearthed and slowly but surely their civilization began to advance forwards. It was not long before the stargate was considered being used for exploration purposes but there was a problem. In their bid to protect the people of the ark the Alteran people had modified the address for the planet making it inaccessible by any other gate in the galaxy save for one, _Atlantis_. But paranoia and the wish to keep their greatest a hidden secret, or so the Averians initially assumed, had prevented them from including that particular address with the others. Later the Averians would come to realise that this was because they did not want them to try to advance too far too quickly, and with a masterpiece like _Atlantis_ in their hands the temptation would be far too great.

So they were patient and carefully advanced, cautiously they explored the space around their world, scouted asteroid belts and the infamous Brier nebula. They built ships and automated work drones capable of operating the vacuum of space and all the while they planned. They planned for the day when they would take the fight to the Wraith, when they would strike the blows necessary to harm their natural enemy. And it was once the question of how was raised that internal conflict began to simmer.

Their objective was clear, they needed to destroy the Wraith. They needed to amass a force capable of utterly pounding them into the dirt and they needed to hit them as hard as possible straight from the start before the Wraith could amass their forces like they had against the Alterans. But they must be cautious about doing so, they could not afford to frivolous waste their ships by overstretching beyond their reach and loosing ships because they were cut off from reinforcements by distance. The Wraith would presumably have spread their influence over many worlds, which meant there were countless worlds that would need to liberated both to save the people and cut the Wraith off from their food source. And it was that line of thought that led to the dispute.

It was obvious that the people would need to be freed from the threat of the Wraith but it was also clear that the Wraith would try to retake the world. If they were to guard against such an attack they would need a large fleet and a large army, both were things that the Averians alone would not possess. The man power required to even crew the sheer number of ships needed was staggering. Then one ambitious Admiral named Zarin had a suggestion, why not use the people of the planets they liberated as a work force. Each time they took a world they could put the population to work building ships and equipment and even defences for the planet. The suggestion was considered and seen for its merits but it was also questioned because most of the Pegasus galaxies inhabitants were forced to remain in a primitive state by the Wraith. But then Zarin tipped his hand and said they would be forced to learn so that they might serve the Empire that they would form. It was then the mood began to sour as people began to realise just what he intended to do. When eventually someone innocently asked the question what if they refuse to work for us? What if they wish to remain independent?

Zarin's reply had betrayed both his intentions and his madness. If they would not serve then were against the Empire and if they were against the Empire then would die. They were the ones chosen by the Alterans to liberate this galaxy from oppression, they were clearly the superior race otherwise they would not have been chosen. It was their destiny to rule over all others.

The response had been swift and harsh. That such actions would not be tolerated. That they would not allow such a thing to happen and that anyone who tried would be dealt with.

Then Zarin claimed that this was the will of people and that they could not deny it.

And again the response was swift. Then those people could leave. Their kind were not wanted in the galaxy free from oppression that they would create.

At the time those words were said in the heat of rage and it was not realised how many would take them to heart. But Zarin did and so did those who supported him. It was surprising just how many people from all areas that Zarin had been able to sink his tendrils into but when the time finally came, several thousand people departed for a world they could call their own. The Averian government were loath to let them go, several prominent geneticists and other assorted scientists were amongst the group, but they knew that they could not stop them. They had opened this box of horrors and they would have to deal with it. So they supplied them with the resources and equipment they would need to survive on another planet and let them go. To keep them against their will would be to go against the ideals they were trying to uphold. In an act of trust they even supplied a few early design warships so that they could defend themselves if necessary.

"Didn't you ever go looking for them?" asked Sheppard. "I would have thought you would have wanted to know what happened to them after so many centuries."

Jakose grimaced. "We did, much sooner than you think actually. You see it wasn't long before we made a horrifying discovery, one the technicians working in the Ark was amongst the group and…"

Rodney groaned. "You have got to be kidding me."

"And," continued Jakose sadly. "He managed to copy the data piece by piece and smuggle it out without anyone realising. It was the only the last chunk of data being copied, which was significantly larger than any of the others that gave us a clue as to what had happened."

"That…that must have taken a long time," said Sheppard.

"It did," said Jakose. "Which meant Zarin had been preparing to potentially break away from our people for far longer than we realised. It's a miracle the data was left intact at all but from what we can tell there was nothing missing."

"You were indeed fortunate," said Woolsey. "Now you said you went looking for them once you made the discovery."

Jakose nodded.

"And I am guessing they weren't there."

"No," admitted Jakose. "They had completely evacuated when we arrived. We don't know where they went."

"And given the sheer number of worlds connected to this galaxies gate system and the fact that they had ships they could be anywhere," summarised McKay.

"Unfortunately yes."

"So where does that leave us?" asked Echidna.

Woolsey sighed. "Well I would like to say diplomacy, unfortunately that tends to prove to be difficult if we don't know where the people we are trying to negotiate with are."

"Do you really think they can be negotiated with?" asked Todd, speaking up for the first time.

It was interesting just how many people at this meeting had been forced to sit and listen to others talk.

Woolsey looked Todd in the eye before responding.

"I would like to think that negotiation is always a possibility," he said. "My people have already found ourselves fighting against more enemies in the last decade alone than I care to mention. Another conflict would just mean more death on both sides so I would like to avoid it."

"You do realise that this group was founded on the idea of annihilating our kind," stated Echidna harshly. "They have already attacked their own kin, we could very well be next."

"If they try we'll be by your side," Sheppard assured her. "We don't let our allies down when someone threatens them."

"And neither do we," added Jakose, earning a look of appreciation from Echidna.

She chuckled. "What an interesting universe we find ourselves in. Who would have thought just a few short years ago that humans would fight to defend Wraith."

"The name Wraith seems to be taking on a whole new meaning these days Matriarch," Todd pointed out.

"Indeed it is my son. Indeed it is."

"Besides," said Woolsey. "They no longer actually need to fight you. There purpose was the same as the Averians, admittedly with a less ideal way of achieving there goal but the same none the less."

"And the Averians now consider you to be allies," Jakose said with a smile.

"A fact I very much appreciate," said Echidna with a smile, remembering how they had helped save her son.

Her expression turned serious again. "They still attacked our allies though."

"That they did," said Sheppard. "But from a military point of view it is understandable. They saw them as a threat to their plans so they tried to remove it, right?"

Sheppard received a few begrudging nods from the Admirals, and even Sovaer.

"Besides," added Sheppard. "They probably only did it because they thought the Averians would kick their asses if they took them on directly."

To which he received a few smiles and chuckles.

"So what do you suggest we do," asked Echidna. "Prepare for a military option?"

"We should be ready," said Sheppard. "Even if we go looking for them it's still going to take us time to find them. Hell it could take years if they decide not to show themselves. But in the mean time we should be ready for the day they decide to reveal themselves, and if that means they attack us then so be it. So while we look we'll also be building up our forces and preparing our defences. If we work together we can handle any threat they send our way."

"Do you mean combine our resources?" asked Jakose. "Or just our assets?"

Woolsey could see where this one was going, he had half expected it.

"I understand what you are asking and I'm afraid we don't give out technology. In any case you own technology is already quite impressive."

"I understand," said Jakose. It had, after all, been a lot to ask.

"It may be possible to place some of our assets near Averia however, and of course our ships will always be willing to come to your aid should you need them. In the future it may be possible to trade but for I cannot guarantee anything," added Woolsey, trying to offer a glimmer of hope.

"I appreciate it," replied Jakose warmly. "You may find we have much that will interest you."

"I'm confident we will."

* * *

"Sounds like the Ori all over again," said Morgan.

"Well this time I will let you finish them off if you decide to get involved," Janus assured her.

"Well it is tempting," admitted Morgan. "But let's see how things play out."

"If it's anything like the Ori, then troublesome."

"Well if it comes down to it you can always build another Attero device," Morgan shot back.

"You can't hang me for that one, it worked rather well at the time and I didn't know about the problem it would cause with the stargates," argued Janus. "Besides the council actually authorised that experiment and I shut it down once I realised."

"The council seemed to be all for weapons of mass destruction didn't they," admitted Morgan. "But only if they couldn't be used against them."

"A pity really otherwise we might have actually had some decent warships."

* * *

Echidna collapsed into a chair in her quarters. "So it seems there is someone who may want me dead."

"A little melodramatic don't you think mother?" asked Todd.

"My apologies. Someone who may want us dead," she corrected.

"Just so you know you are not the only one they are after. I would hate to think you were getting paranoid," he said smirking.

Echidna chuckled. It felt good to be able to joke about this, it was a good way to release the tension, and she knew that if someone did have it in for her then her son wouldn't hesitate to bring the entirety of the Wraith armada down upon them.

"So how is the research progressing so far?" she asked. "I understand you have made some interesting discoveries."

Todd sighed, settling into his own chair. "Interesting maybe, but mostly frustrating. It seems recreating the original pathogen has proven difficult even for sisters after ten millennia of trying. There appears to be some secret that was overlooked when making the _Arima_ but I cannot fathom what it might be. For I know it could be something to do with the pathogen reaction to fathers Alteran DNA, and at this point I am willing to bet that it actually was."

"Do not blame yourself my son," consoled Echidna. "Just be grateful that Thypeous was able to prevent your sisters from getting hold of the original. If he hadn't erased his own memory banks of that knowledge I don't know what we would have done."

"Yes, well luckily I have been able to find an alternative."

"Ah I assume you mean including those additional generators and the new bio armour?"

"Not only that but I have found a way to boost our power generation capabilities significantly to support the new armour systems. Would you like to hear how?"

"Hmm," Echidna pretended to think, knowing how proud her son must feel at his accomplishment. "Why not. Just please don't get too technical for me."

"As you wish mother. My idea was actually based off the design that many other races have used, I'm sure you are aware of the properties of naquadah and its uses in generators. Well i managed to find a way to use the basic properties of the materials ability to amplify energy to create a turbo booster for our ships. Each booster will be fed energy from our generators and will release double the energy we put into it. By putting in six of these boosters around the ship linking to key systems we can potentially increase our ships capabilities by multitudes at a time, and if we link them together I can boost the power going to the hyperdrive by a factor of 128 compared to a regular hive. This does however require much larger main power conduits to accommodate the increased charge but I have found a way to give us that, as well as install safeties to prevent the boosters from overloading. Well mother what do you think?"

Echidna was momentarily stunned. "How…how soon can you have these modifications ready?"

"Right away, oh and I can also add a booster to the growth accelerator buildings as well to speed up production times."

Echidna beamed. "Well done my son."

Todd chuckled. "I'm glad you like it mother. Oh and I hope you'll forgive me but I made an addition to the internal systems of the _Arima_."

"What kind of addition? I hope you got permission from your father because I know you didn't get mine."

"Oh he did," said a voice behind her. "And I must say I am greatly enjoying using it."

Echidna, who had flinched when the voice started speaking, leapt out of her chair and spun around, only to end up standing stock still and staring wide eyed at the figure before her. It couldn't be, those chestnut locks, that warming smile, those sparkling blue eyes like the ocean on Lantea. But no it was, it was the face of the man that haunted her dreams.

"Thy… Thypeous?" she asked disbelievingly and with no small amount of hope. "How? You…you look so young. How is this possible?"

The figure that bore the face of the man she loved smiled and strode toward her, his form shimmering as it passed right through the chair she had been sitting in.

"Holographic projection technology," explained Thypeous. "A gift from the Asgard as a sign of friendship. Nowhere near as advanced as their current designs but it does allow me to project myself like this into any part of the ship."

"So you cannot touch anything," said Echidna, with a hint of disappointment.

"No but it does allow me to communicate with other species more easily," he reasoned.

"Besides, as you may recall the mental link allows us to touch each deeply enough already," he whispered mischievously causing her to blush.

"Well if you'll excuse me I'll be going," said Todd, before hurrying out the door. He knew when his parents needed some alone time, besides he had work to do.

* * *

"Well good for them," said Janus.

"Yes good for them," agreed Morgan.

"Let's give them some privacy now," suggested Oma.

"You're right they've earned some alone time," said Janus. "I wonder what else is going on in the universe."

"Oh no you don't Janus," warned Morgan as she chased after him. "You are not running off on your own again."

Oma chuckled at their antics as she went after them.

* * *

**Please Review**


	27. Progress is made

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Always happy to please my readers. Some ideas just take time to implement if you want them to work, and while i would like to do everything at once i do have to try to be realistic. Well realistic to a point anyway. **

**Shadows-of-Realm: Well they technically already got through the attack when they saved Hope, its the future they have to worry about. As for the rest, well lets just say they're asking the same question.**

* * *

**Jaffa Training Camp**

The green, earth like world ahead was already well known to the commander of the BC-306 Tau'ri vessel that was exiting hyperspace just outside of orbit. The world had previously been in the possession of Apophis and had been used as a training world for members of his army. Here soldiers blindly loyal to the false god would undergo training and take part in war games using intar weapons, designed to forge them into weapons worthy of the Goa'uld System Lord. But this world was quite unique in that it had not been used to train Jaffa warriors but instead humans. Goa'uld had been known in the past to use humans as fodder when they're own armies of Jaffa were beginning to dwindle, after all a Goa'uld hates to lose and such methods had proven effective enough to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But humans would not require training for such a purpose, and the humans that had been undergoing training on this world had been training for a far different purpose. Apophis did intend for them to be fodder to boost his failing army, instead he intended for them to be used to eliminate a threat that had cost him much in such a short period of time. Using what had been learned from a captured SG-11 the humans would mimic the actions of the Tau'ri in the hope that they would be able to infiltrate their forces and destroy them from within. If not for the timely arrival of SG-1 then the young humans might have continued to train aimlessly for countless years to come. Training for a mission that would have been impossible to accomplish, but then again Apophis had been desperate.

Slowly approaching the planet several Ha'tak class vessels quickly moved to intercept the powerful and demanded identification. Offering no hostility, despite the raised shields of the other vessels, the Tau'ri vessel responded and the ship was allowed to take orbit around the planet after receiving co-ordinates. On the planets surface there was a flash of light and Lt. General Jack O'Neill appeared. Looking around he realised he was standing in what was a Jaffa settlement recognising the stone structures as being reminiscent to those on Chulak. However unlike Chulak there were numerous buildings going above several stories as well as some very large buildings that were reminiscent of warehouses. Turning around he looked down the main road and saw in the distance a collection of tents, a short distance away from the main settlement. He started walking towards the camp at a leisurely pace, taking in the sights as he went.

Around him were groups of Jaffa, chatting and carrying goods to destinations. Most of them were women and children, with the male Jaffa apparently elsewhere but there were some about, carrying boxes or manning various stalls. The stalls were similar to those of the various market places across the galaxy, selling food, jewellery and clothing amongst other things. Most trade in the galaxy was done through barter on the basis that you need what you need right now so the value of an object can only be measured by how much you need it at the time. But some things are equally valued by most human and Jaffa settlements, and that is precious metals, more specifically gold. The Goa'uld had a love for the metal to an extreme, to the point were they would line the walls of their ships with it. Gold coins were considered desirable to both the humans and the Jaffa so the Jaffa had been trying to introduce it as a general currency. Ironically the attempts had been successful outside their own community but it was taking effect slowly in the Jaffa worlds. To understand this one had to consider where the need to value gold came from. The humans had in a way been forced to set a value for gold, and naquadah and other precious materials. This was so that they could trade for it with other human worlds so that they could acquire enough to match the amounts that the Goa'uld required of them to mine. It was true that there was no such thing as a currency system in the past, but by introducing gold as the basis one was starting to take shape. The Jaffa however were slow to the change, they had never needed to buy their goods, and rarely bartered. The human worlds had been required to give them whatever they needed as decreed by the Goa'uld. But now they were being thrust into a changing universe. They found themselves needing to adapt to survive, something that the warrior people could at least understand. So slowly an economy was taking shape, and the various human worlds found themselves subjected to a new terror, taxes. The Free Jaffa Nation was hiring out its forces as defences to the various human worlds, acting as galactic police force to a certain extent. But human worlds that joined the Jaffa Nation however were not subject to fees but were instead subjected to taxes. In these early days of the Jaffa nation they would simply be taxed for the income they received for their work. It was a small tax but it was the start of what form the foundations a grand empire for the Jaffa people.

Approaching the tents O'Neill could a number of Jaffa gathered together, both male and female. They appeared to be gathering around a large stage on which stood a familiar figure, Teal'c. The mighty Jaffa warrior had abandoned his leather robes and was instead wearing only black trousers and a leather sleeveless undershirt. In his hands he held a P90 and one of the new plasma rifles.

Bra'tac, having spotted him as he approached, walked up to him.

"O'Neill," he said. "It is good to see you again."

Jack smiled at the ageing Jaffa. "You too Bra'tac, so how's politics treating you?"

The Jaffa master sighed. "I had thought that the hard battles would be over with the System Lords gone and the Ori defeated. It seems I was wrong. Politics is a war like no other."

Jack chuckled. "You know it took a while to figure this out but that was only because I couldn't see what was right in front of me. Surround yourself with good people and it makes the whole thing that much easier, because then you can delegate and know the job will get done."

"It is a hard lesson to learn," admitted Bra'tac. "Learning to let people take the weight off your shoulders instead of trying to do everything by yourself."

"We only try to do everything for ourselves because we worry what might happen if things don't go well."

"Indeed we do, but it is not easy even with help."

"There is a saying on Earth Rome wasn't built in a day."

Bra'tac smirked. "How big was Rome?"

"Given the technology being used lets say it's about the same as what you're trying to do, and with the Asgard helping you then it won't be as hard as you think."

"The Asgard are indeed a powerful and benevolent race, they have been of great aid to our people these past few months. We owe them much."

"I don't think they see it that way, as far as they're concerned they're trying to fix the damage that the Goa'uld caused. This is just a part of it, giving you all the chance to form your own society the way it should have been."

Bra'tac frowned. "But if it were not for the Goa'uld the Jaffa would not exist."

"Not the point," Jack argued. "Nobody should be born into slavery and the Jaffa were slaves to the Goa'uld, brainwashed into doing the bidding of the Goa'uld."

"The Tau'ri have a saying I believe," said Bra'tac. "Never again. Well I intend to form a nation from that belief."

"Here's to that Bra'tac. Here's to that."

"Look, Teal'c is starting his speech," said Bra'tac gesturing to the stage.

"People of the Free Jaffa Nation," yelled Teal'c. "Today our people take another step in their independence. Today we have forged another symbol of our freedom."

Teal'c paused as the crowd cheered at his words before beginning again.

"A wise man once said that the staff weapon is a weapon of terror, to scare those we would fight. For millennia the Jaffa used a weapon of fear, but the Tau'ri who opposed the Goa'uld used this." He held up the P90 in his left hand for the crowd to see. "That same wise man named this a weapon of war, a weapon to strike down ones enemies."

"But my brothers and sisters this is our weapon of war." He held up the plasma rifle to even more cheers. "This is a weapon designed by the Jaffa in the light of freedom, and when our warriors march into battle it with weapons such as these that they will carry. With these we shall bring down those who would try to enslave others. Never again shall we suffer under the oppression of others. Never again shall the Jaffa or any other human be forced to bow down to those who claim to be gods. Never again shall the Jaffa be the soldiers of oppression. If we must fight, then it will be for a noble cause and if we should die then we shall die free."

The crowd erupted, their cheers drowning out the last of the warriors words.

As the crowd began to disperse Teal'c spotted O'Neill and Bra'tac standing together and approached with a smile, handing the P90 to one of his warriors.

"O'Neill, I am glad that you could come."

"Nice to be here," said Jack. "That was one hell of speech."

"It is easy when it comes from the heart," said Teal'c. "What do you think of our new weapon?"

"May I?"

Teal'c smirked and handed the plasma rifle to him.

"Nice," Jack commented as he examined the rifle, testing the feel of it and trying out the scope.

"Teal'c based the design off of the plasma repeaters used by the kull and his experience with your own projectile weapons," said Bra'tac.

"Indeed," said Teal'c. "My engineers have learned much these past few years and with the help of the Asgard we have made great strides."

"So what are the specs for this thing?" asked Jack.

"It can fire 180 plasma rounds a minute with a range of over 100 metres," said Teal'c.

"Sounds like you took a staff weapon and beefed up the fire power," said Jack.

"Indeed," said Teal'c. "The power source is even the same, a liquid naquadah power cell. Like a staff weapon we expect it to last well beyond a Jaffa's lifetime."

"Certainly takes care of the issue of running out of ammo in a fight and you have a nice way of recycling the old staff weapons."

"The staff weapon has served our people well for many years," noted Bra'tac. "The Jaffa will take time to adjust to the changes we are going through. Accepting these new weapons will be the first step."

"Well you have certainly built a nice weapon of war here," commented Jack. "It's sturdy, easy to handle and pretty powerful to boot."

"I am glad you like it O'Neill," said Teal'c. "Your approval means much to me."

"I'm looking forward to seeing what else you come up with."

"Perhaps we should show him the other designs," suggested Bra'tac.

Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Others?"

Teal'c grinned.

Standing inside one of the large buildings he had noticed earlier Jack quickly realised why this planet had come with so much security. It wasn't just a place for the Jaffa to train in using the new weapons but also where the designs had been developed in the first place. The building he was standing in was part factory, part workshop and was full of activity. The entire place smelt of smoke, sweat and hard work. There were Jaffa engineers working on new designs, producing new components and inspecting rifles. Jaffa were coming and going out of the warehouse, carrying materials and components, some leaving with them, others bringing them in. At the far end of the warehouse were several large objects covered in tarpaulin as well as the numerous prototype designs that Bra'tac had spoken of. It was these that they were here to see.

Teal'c led them to an unused work bench upon which lay the latest designs the Jaffa had produced. The weapons were quite large and even though they were clearly not fully assembled yet, judging by the opening casing and missing internal components, the shape of them was still apparent.

They were both reminiscent of the staff cannon, sharing the same box like main structure, but that was where the similarities ended. The smaller of the two was smaller in both length and overall size and instead of a single barrel this version had three, each the size of those on the plasma rifles. On the bench next to it was what appeared to be the power source, three liquid naquadah power cells that would feed power to each of the alternatively firing barrels, giving it a firing rate of 540 RPM. The larger of the two was very much like the staff cannon that Carter had taken from a death glider and modified into a hand held version. This one was almost identical in appearance and shape but seemed much more streamlined, having been manufactured rather than modified. This version fired bolts twice the size of the plasma rifle but at half the firing rate, with dual power cells feeding into a capacitor to allow for alternate firing rates with a maximum of 90 RPM.

"Interesting," said Jack. "You certainly have come with a few new ideas. So what are you calling these bad boys?"

"The smaller is the plasma storm cannon and the other I am calling a plasma blaster," said Teal'c with a grin.

Jack chuckled, he knew his friend was a big Star Wars fan and that had probably influenced the second name.

"They certainly sound impressive on paper," commented Jack. "You tested them yet."

"The designs have performed adequately and are ready for mass production," said a voice behind him.

O'Neill turned around and saw an Asgard standing behind him.

"Hello and who might you be," he asked.

The Asgard gave him a brief look, as if sizing him up, before answering. "I am Kvasir. I was tasked by the Asgard High Council with making sure the Jaffa do not blow themselves up testing their new designs."

Jack raised an eyebrow, he heard of this particular Asgard. "So is that a danger of happening?"

"No," Kvasir replied shortly. "I have inspected the prototypes before they were tested and have determined them to be fully functional."

"Good to know," said Jack, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"Will he be looking at the fighter prototype?" asked Kvasir.

"What fighter prototype?"

"He will be," said Bra'tac.

"Follow me then," said Kvasir before turning and heading to the large objects covered in tarpaulin.

"So you've even altered the death gliders as well?" Jack enquired.

"Not exactly," said Bra'tac. "We have discarded them for an alternative option, one you should recognise."

As they approached one of the large objects Teal'c grabbed hold of the tarpaulin sheet.

"Behold the new fighter of the Jaffa, the needle threader," said Teal'c before pulling off the sheet.

The name meant nothing to O'Neill but he immediately recognised the cylinder shaped craft resting on stirrups. It was the fighter that Teal'c and Hammond had manned when they had rescued SG-1 from Hathor. That craft had been the last of the Goa'uld fighters in existence capable of traversing through the stargate, the design having been discarded after it proved to be too difficult to master. If the Jaffa intended to make this their new fighter then clearly that must have changed.

"I thought this thing was supposed to be really difficult to fly," said Jack. "I sure wouldn't want to try flying one of these through a stargate."

"This version has modified from the original design," said Kvasir.

"How?" asked Jack.

"It utilises an automated flight control system that has been created from reprogramming the fail safe devices found on the death gliders utilised by Apophis," Kvasir explained.

"So it's like a planes fly by wire that compensates for any wrong moves made by the pilot," Jack summarised.

"In terms of basic premise yes," admitted Kvasir, unimpressed.

"But it's essentially a version of the automated guidance systems utilised in Alteran gate ships for traversing through a stargate," Jack continued while stepping forwards to get a better look at the craft.

Kvasir blinked, surprised. "Yes…that's right."

Teal'c and Bra'tac suppressed their chuckles but not their grins.

"I see you modified the weapon systems as well," Jack noted, noticing that the two staff cannons were attached to ball turrets.

"The staff cannons have been replaced with plasma blasters," Teal'c explained. "And the two turrets can be aimed by the gunner or using automated targeting systems."

"Definitely an improvement over the old models in terms of weapons alone," Jack admitted. "And the fact that it is gate capable is very impressive."

He turned to look at Teal'c with a small smile on his face. "You know I could almost swear you were trying to one up us, building a fighter that can travel through the gate and be mass produced."

"I'm glad you like it O'Neill," said Teal'c with a smirk.

"But you know firepower isn't everything in a warrior," said O'Neill.

"So we have come to learn O'Neill," said Bra'tac. "That is why we have also been improving our armour as well."

"Oh really?"

"Using the lessons we have taught them the Jaffa have come up with an effective design," acknowledged Kvasir.

The new armour design was quite impressive. The base layer was a two piece form fitting body suit made from silk with carbon nanotubing weaved in to the fabric, which was bullet proof against smaller calibre rounds. The top layer was the actual armour and consisted of trinium plating that looked similar in shape to that worn by star wars clone troopers but with the bulkiness of halo spartan armour. The original Jaffa armour had been designed to protect the Jaffa's symbiote from harm, and even then only against simple weapons that humans might use. This new armour would afford protection against both Tau'ri ballistic weapons and energy weapons.

"That fabric is very impressive," admitted Jack. "I know for a fact that there are some boys back home who would love to have the formula for it."

The Tau'ri had been looking into making their own armour for a while now, but so far the best they had come up with a flexible polymer capable of withstanding a hit from a staff weapon. There was hope of making a more suitable battle armour by modifying the design of the Vanir armoured exoskeleton, but finding suitable materials to replace the overly bulky external layers of the suit and producing something more refined and easier to move in was proving difficult. But maybe this fabric might just hold the key if it was as strong as was suspected and yet still flexible enough to move in.

"So what would you guys be interested in trading for the formula?"

Bra'tac and Teal'c looked at each other.

"I am sure we can find something of equal value," said Bra'tac. "I understand that your people have some impressive armour of your own."

Jack nodded. "Well we do have this polymer that we use for vest inserts. It can a take hit from a staff weapon and still hold together, although the hit has been known to knock you off your feet, but it's pretty light flexible as well so you may find other uses for it."

"May I make a suggestion," enquired Kvasir.

"Of course," said Teal'c.

"General O'Neill it is my understanding that your people have some solid item manufacturing technologies that, although primitive, are effective and quite energy efficient."

"Item manufacturing technologies?" Jack asked confused.

"I believe you refer to the process as 3-D printing."

"Ah."

"As it stands the Jaffa lack established production methods to produce items in bulk. I believe that this technology would greatly aid them, and would give them an efficient method to produce the polymer plating you are offering. It would also be a relatively simple matter to give them proper instruction on how the technology works as part of our instructional lessons."

"So you're saying we should give them the polymer and the technology and you will explain how it works as part of your lessons. You guys okay with that?" Jack asked Teal'c and Bra'tac.

"Yes," said Bra'tac. "But would the others of your world be willing to pay such a high price?"

"Indeed," agreed Teal'c. "My understanding of your IOA is that they would not be willing to pay more than necessary when the fabric armour would be considered enough."

"On the contrary," argued Kvasir. "The fabric armour represents a manufacturing technology of its own."

"He's right," admitted Jack. "Our boys back home still haven't figured out how to combine the two materials together, so I think technology is being fairly exchanged."

"It will be interesting to see what the Tau'ri come up with," said Bra'tac. "But knowing your people it will certainly be impressive."

"Here's hoping," said Jack.

* * *

**Vanir City – Medical Lab**

"You're absolutely sure about this?" asked Jakose.

Sovaer sat up from the operating table where lay shirtless.

"Are you kidding?" he asked with a grin. "This is what makes it worth it."

Frey strode up to the operating table carrying a tray of high tech instruments. The Vanir had finally taken possession of a new android body and was greatly enjoying it.

"I can assure you that the new skin design has been fully tested and has been safe for usage," assured Frey. "Experiments even show a high resistance to some of the weapons used by the Tau'ri as well."

"A lab grown combination of spider silk and human skin," said Jakose, shaking his head in disbelief. "You know sometimes I wonder how you come up with these ideas or that you allow it Aerin."

He paused and then thought about what he just said.

"No actually I can believe that you allow it," he concluded. "What I cannot believe are some of the things that you request. I mean really, bone claws?"

"Hey what's the point of field testing the new Vanir toys if you can't request the occasion good idea," protested Sovaer.

"Although I did say I would investigate your idea I believe it highly unlikely that I will be able to incorporate it without major alterations to your arms," Frey pointed out. "I will be administering a sedative. It should keep you under for several hours longer than the procedure."

"Yes well you never know do you?" argued Sovaer. "I'm going to activate the neural filters just in case the sedative wears off before you are finished.

"I still wish they had never lent you those movies," complained Jakose.

"Not to worry Minister," said Frey. "I will endeavour to point out when he is making a completely ridiculous request."

Jakose frowned. It was all well and good him saying that but he had seen Frey's face when they were watching Iron Man. The Vanir had actually seemed intrigued by the possibility of a mechanized battle suit.

Jakose patted his friend on the soldier after Frey injected the sedative. "I'll see you when you wake up. Pleasant dreams old friend."

Sovaer relaxed and let the sedative take hold, his vision drifting into darkness.

* * *

On Earth radical changes were once again occurring that the public were completely unaware of but happened nonetheless. Finally, as some saw it, alien technology that had been gathered over the years was being used to the benefit of the average member of society.

In a move to fight the damage done, and was even still happening, by the industrial revolution a new project was being undertaken. Operation Clear Skies had been commissioned to utilise alien technology in a bid to clean up the atmosphere once and for all. Unseen in the skies high above were a series of stealth blimp like objects, each one slowly drawing in tons of airborne elements and molecularly reconfiguring and sorting them using Asgard beams to scrub the very air clean. Thanks to marvels of Asgard technology once a buffer was full it could simply be wiped and the process could continue uninhibited.

These blimp-like objects, supported by anti gravity boosters, would slowly over time convert the entire atmosphere and would eventually prevail against climate change. Over time few and fewer of them would be needed and it was hoped that one day the entire lot could be discarded as Earth found itself utilising clean sources of energy globally.

In the oceans there were even similar objects, each one performing the same task as their sky bound siblings. The oceans themselves were being scrubbed clean of pollutants and toxins casually dumped in the form of chemical waste and sewage.

On Earth, though the people did not know it, the future was beginning to look just a little bit brighter.

* * *

**_Weir_ – Deep Space**

The Pegasus-class vessel sat in the depths of space, far from any star system. The reason for this was simple. They had arranged this spot to meet with their allies the Travellers. It was quiet and out of the way, perfect for a rendezvous with a paranoid ally. But the real reason was because it was simply the closest spot for all three Traveller vessels to converge to. With the Travellers slower hyperdrives range was a factor and it was simply easier for the _Weir_ to wait for them to arrive before ferrying them to their next destination, _Atlantis_.

The four vessels would easily fit in a hanger designed to hold three Tau'ri battlecruisers so space was not a worry. It also had the added advantage of allowing them to make sure of the hangers matter construction technology to perform repairs to the external areas of the Traveller vessels. Patches would be removed and in their place the hull plating would be properly restored, weakened hull sections would be reinforced and areas that were inaccessible due to hull damage that had yet to be repaired would once again become accessible. In the time that it would take for the mighty carrier vessel to traverse the distance between here and the city ship the hulls of the generational vessels would be completely restored.

When they were dropped off at _Atlantis_ the real work would begin though. There the ships would land on the piers of the majestic city ship and under the watchful eye of the Tau'ri work would begin to repair the interior areas of the ships that had become so degraded over the years. The ships would eventually be repaired to some resemblance of working order. They may not be big, they may not be beautiful but they would be fully capable of carrying the families of people they were meant to keep safe. While the engineers worked on fixing conduits and replacing broken or old parts the rest of the crew would be given the chance to breathe some air that hadn't been recycled through scrubbers countless numbers of times. They would be transported to the planets landmass where they could rest and relax while the others worked in shifts and enjoy the sun, sea and air. Of course they were deliberately deposited on a beach that did not have any very large snakes in the local vicinity but were told not to stray to far anyway, just in case.

In a while they would have to return to their ships and return to work. Colonies needed to be established, hard work needed to be done and the next batch of ships would need to come for repairs but for now they would simply enjoy the chance for a break. For the first time in so many years they could relax and rest.

But in a short time, just two years, they would find the galaxy on the verge of yet another war.

It was a time that would come so very quickly.

* * *

**Please Review. Or if fanfiction isn't allowing you to review at the moment, as has been the case after my last two updates, then Please Review Later.**


	28. Time goes by

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: You know i racked my brains trying to think of a good way to help the Jaffa and i can't just give the Jaffa an economy so i had to think of something good. Speaking of building chapters i know this is one you have been looking forward to so i hope you enjoy it.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: Ah so you saw the hint i left in the previous chapter, glad to see you figured it out.**

**MalSer: Glad to here it.**

**jackpotdante: I hope you enjoy this latest update.**

**Hydroplatypus: I hope i answered your questions fully, but if you have any more then just ask.**

**romanhellhound: I really don't know what this story would be like without AleanderD's help but i'm glad i don't have to find out. And i'm glad you're a reader of his, A New Dawn really is a brilliant read.**

* * *

The threat of the Zarinites was not something the Tau'ri was taking lightly. To that end they were preparing for what could prove to be a dangerous conflict against a very powerful enemy. True the Tau'ri had some considerably advanced technology at their disposal that made them a force to be reckoned with but the enemy they would be looking at had been preparing to conquer the entire galaxy for a very long time now. But the Zarinites had no clue as to the capabilities of their enemies and unfortunately the Tau'ri and Averians found themselves in the same boat. So now the Averians, Wraith and the Tau'ri were both scouring the galaxy in an attempt to find their mysterious foe. The Tau'ri had even gone as far as to include the Travellers in the search and that was one conversation that had been an administrative headache for Woolsey.

The Travellers lived on their ships. They were homes to hundreds of people, designed to withstand many years of hard ship and be capable of sustaining the men, women and children that crewed them. Sending a ship into a hostile situation meant putting the lives of innocents at risk. Children who had barely known existence for more than a few years could have their lives snuffed out in an instant if just one of the systems on the ancient vessels gave out. But now for the first time in many years the Traveller fleet was being repaired and restored to its former glory. New ships were even being constructed courtesy of the advanced shipyards of the Tau'ri and now the issue of overcrowding was not something the Travellers found themselves having to worry about. As the vessels were repaired or even constructed they would be sent out to search the galaxy. Restored to full working order the vessels were much more capable of surviving long enough to escape should they encounter a threat.

* * *

Time passed and progress was made. Preparations for the upcoming conflict were continuing but lives still continued as if this state of war never existed. Research into new technologies to better people's lives, through easing their burdens or protecting their lives, continued and in the search of the database on _Atlantis_ a discovery was made like no other. A stargate address that consisted of nine symbols and one that was hoped would hopefully unlock the mystery of the ninth and previously unused chevron. After extensive research it was determined that dialling the address would require considerable power, far in advance of what they could generate at any given time even with their current level of technology. To solve this problem a special team was gathered together to work on solving the issue and a base was established on a planet that had been discovered to possess a solid naquadria core. The project and the planet were codenamed Icarus. Headed up by Doctor Nicholas Rush the science team were able to reconfigure the gate power interface system to draw power directly from the planets core but were unable to finalise their research when they found themselves baffled by a mathematical proof that was required to complete the dialling sequence. It wasn't until young Eli Wallace came along that the final piece of the puzzle was solved along with the issue of the gate address being incorrect.

But their success was not to last however as somehow the Lucian Alliance had been able to discover the location of the base and promptly attacked the planet. The opening salvo's resulted in a chain reaction that would eventually lead to the planets destruction forcing Colonel Samantha Carter to order her ship the _George Hammond_ to remain in orbit in order to beam out the people manning the base. In an ironic twist of fate the mighty battlecruiser was unable to utilise its powerful weaponry against the Lucians as the only way to beam out all of the base personnel while maintaining her shields was to divert all available power to the sensor and beaming systems while a micro-fissure was created in the ships shields to allow for the beam signal to slip through. As it turned out this course of action proved to be the right one as moments after the last of the personnel on the surface were beamed away the planets core became unstable, resulting in the destruction of both the planet and the attacking Lucian forces. The personnel trapped within the base that had been forced to evacuate through the stargate an entirely different and unexpected fate was realised. The ninth chevron, Earths very own point of origin, had locked into place and the motley band of civilians and military personnel were sent hurtling billions of light years to a ship called _Destiny_.

This ship had been sent out on a mission and at first it was believed that it was to follow the seed ships that preceded it and gather information about the planets around the universe. But the unlikely crew of the ship found themselves lacking in both supplies and hope from the very beginning. Their current location was unknown and Earth was unable to send assistance with the Icarus planet lost. It was up to the crew to survive on their own with only the communication stones as a means of support. At times the stones would prove to be invaluable in so many ways, but in others would be a test of their will power as people were forced to look at their loved ones and instead see the face of someone else. It took time but eventually the crew was able to pull together, fight the challenges that awaited them in this strange corner of the universe and even defend the ship against hostile forces.

It wasn't until the calendar year had changed that the Lucians reared their heads again and displayed a surprising amount of knowledge about the ninth chevron and what it led to. They would eventually find a way to reach the ship and attempted to take it for themselves, only to be thwarted by the efforts of those that had come to call the ship home. The Lucian leadership was eventually defeated and the remainder of the forces calmly surrendered, knowing the fight was pointless because they did not really want to be here either. Over time the two groups would come together to form a new crew and would work together to face the challenges that waited in the dark.

In the struggle to survive sacrifices were made, lives were lost and good friends laid to rest. But friendships were forged and love was found in even the unlikeliest of places. It seemed that in some cases the Lucians and the Tau'ri were very similar.

Eventually they would discover the keys that would allow them access to the ships bridge and with it the keys to controlling the ship itself. This discovery brought much joy to the crew as it allowed them greater control over their own future. Using this control they would discover the true purpose of the ships mission, to investigate an inexplicable pattern found in the background noise of the universe. They could even direct the ship to new locations off of the course pre-programmed into the ship and in doing so would discover a new enemy that would change their future completely.

The berserker drones, as they were dubbed, would seek out technology and would endeavour to utterly annihilate it. The control ships that controlled the drones would mercilessly hunt down their targets and reduce great civilisations to rubble. Eventually they would target Destiny and in doing so would adopt a whole new strategy to combat their enemy. The enemy they faced would learn about their target and adapt to fight them, when heavy force was determined to not be the key subtle cunning was used. Destiny had been designed to keep going for millions and perhaps even billions of years, far longer than any other ship was capable of lasting for on a regular power supply, but Destiny was not powered by simple fuel. She drew power from the very stars themselves, usually red giants, and it was from this fact that the drones centred their strategy around. They would starve the ship from her source of energy and when she was weakest she would pounce. She was of course weakest when the ship needed to recharge her batteries and to do so would require her to dive into the stars corona and collect star matter. Blockades were discovered to have been placed at each of the stars she could safely draw power and so a plan was enacted to get out of dodge. In a risky move that nearly destroyed the ship they collected power from a blue giant before preparing to go into stasis for the next three years while the Destiny traversed the distance to take them into the next galaxy. When it was discovered that one of the pods would need repairing Eli Wallace bravely stepped forward and volunteered to try to repair the pod within two weeks, at which point the ship would lack the power to travel the distance, he didn't fail.

Now they all rest safely while the ship that they call home ferries them to the next galaxy and a whole new collection of wonders.

* * *

It was now early the year 2011 and the crew of _Destiny_ would soon be entering their three year slumber. It was interesting to note however that the ramifications of their mission had managed to spill back to Earth even if they hadn't made it back.

The Lucians had been even more aggressive towards Earth and had even managed to place spies within their ranks. David Telford was one such example and it was hoped that he would be the last given that he had been subject to brainwashing. But they had exposed a weakness in Earths defences that had allowed them to slip to Earth and make contact with him. A planetary shield had been emplaced around the planet but Telford had managed to slip them a time for when the shield was down for maintenance during the initial installation phases. Using this information they had slipped past the defensive screen under cloak and planted a cloaked Tel'tak on the planets surface. Using its rings they were able to make it past the planetary shield and meet with Telford in secret. When he was discovered though this back door was quickly sealed and Earth was safe once again.

Unfortunately Earth once again had reason to fear when by a fluke chance a Tel'tak was able to exit hyperspace within the atmosphere and ended up colliding with Homeworld Command. The cargo ship had been in the possession of the Lucian Alliance and was carrying a naquadria bomb. Her target had actually been Homeworld Command but her failure to reduce her descent speeds after exiting hyperspace had resulted in her hitting the building instead. The bomb had been successfully defused but lives had been lost as a result.

It was believed that there would not be a repeat of the incident. The fact that the cargo ship had been able to make it past the shield and into the atmosphere at all from a distance was nothing short of miraculous. In system a powerful net of sensors had been established that easily were capable of penetrating the weak cloaking system that the Goa'uld had developed. With this in place even the Jaffa would be unable to sneak in close enough to perform a safe hyperspace jump past the shields that wouldn't result in missing the planet completely. Of course research was being done to find a way to prevent hyperspace windows from forming within the planets atmosphere and it was hoped that with the help of the Asgard they would find a way.

But this aggressiveness would not be tolerated by the Tau'ri and they began to take measures to deal with their enemy. The first step was to find out where they had gotten the Naquadria for that bomb. There was only one planet in the universe that they knew of that had that element mined and refined and it was the homeworld of one of their allies. Intelligence sources informed them that the Lucians had made contact with the Langarans and were attempting to form an alliance. It was believed that they wanted to use the planets stargate and the link it possessed to the naquadria core to dial _Destiny_.

In a bold move to establish a supply line the crew of _Destiny_ had hatched a plan to use the communication stones to take control of the planets stargate and dial the ship using a dialling program McKay had developed to prevent the destruction of the planet. Their plan was discovered though and during what appeared to be a successful dialling the attempt was aborted after it was discovered that the Langarans had refused to ally with the alliance if it compromised their relationship with Earth. It was hoped that their relationship with the Langarans was still salvageable and while negotiations continued Earth would still commission them to produce the Night Fury class hulls. By the time that the crew entered stasis a deal had been struck to solidify the use of the stargate as a supply line when _Destiny_ reached the next galaxy and in exchange they would include the planet in the protected planets treaty assuring their protection and the hand of friendship from the Asgard.

* * *

"They have made a lot of progress," said Morgan.

"Yes they have," agreed Janus. "I must admit I'm impressed with the ingenuity that they have showed. Even the Vanir have benefited from associating with the Tau'ri."

"You sound surprised," commented Oma.

"Maybe a little, but really who would have thought our allies of old would be inspired by the Tau'ri," said Janus.

"Someday though they will have to reveal the truth to their world," said Morgan with a frown. "It will be a difficult time for them and their enemy has not shown themselves for over two years now."

"They will have their allies beside them though," pointed out Oma. "The friendships they have forged will see them through the difficult times to come."

"I hope you're right," said Janus.

"Hope is what guides us forwards," said Oma. "Without it we would never dare to risk and we could never benefit from our risks."

"Yes, well," said Janus. "I hope I don't miss the Tau'ri dealing out some righteous fury on the idiots who tried to bomb their homeworld."

"Relax Janus," said Morgan. "We have plenty of time to get there still."

"Yes well we've watched your show, now it's time for mine."

"So same as usual then," Morgan countered.

Oma rolled her eyes. Some things would never change.

* * *

The show the three ascended had been watching was the joint Tau'ri and Asgard visit to the Ori galaxy to extend the hand of friendship and to try to lay the foundations for an alliance. It was certainly an impressive sight, seeing the symbol of Asgard might that was the O'Neill-class emerge from the supergate followed by the equally impressive Pegasus-class of the Tau'ri. The design plans for said supergate were actually something the Tau'ri wanted to acquire from the former Ori followers, or at the very least they wanted to try and acquire one for the Pegasus galaxy to allow for rapid redeployment of their forces.

Emerging from the event horizon the two ships found themselves facing down a fleet of six motherships, all of which had their shields raised against them. After a brief talk with the ships where their benign intentions were heavily re-assured they were given permission to have the Tau'ri representative Richard Woolsey and the Asgard representative Freyr meet with Tomin, the current military and, by default, general administrative ruler of the peoples of this galaxy.

What was not apparent, but was nevertheless a fact, was that the Tau'ri had brought more than one ship with them should something unexpected happen. The appearance of a rogue prior demanding all to bow down in worship of the invincible and immortal Ori was not a possibility that was being discarded. Forgetting for the moment the sizeable number of shuttle craft and F-302's sitting in her hanger pods, since against the armour style shielding of an Ori mothership these counted for very little, the Tau'ri had also brought four additional vessels with them. These were the escorts for the Pegasus-class that came in the form of D-307's, otherwise known as the Night Fury-class. Working in packs these vessels were fast, agile, and more than capable of gutting an Ori mothership with a single volley from their plasma beams alone.

Negotiations were long and slow. After all the two parties did have to inform the other on recent and important developments in several galaxies first and this could take some time. It had been three years since they had parted ways to allow for both sides to recover from the changes that the truth of the ark had set in motion. It was for this reason that the three ascended had decided to move on to the next scheduled show and come back later. In most cases they had enjoyed front row seats to the important developments.

* * *

Two years is a long time. Arguably this is purely dependent on your perspective since there are many species in the universe that enjoy such a long life span those two years are relatively no time at all. But to a species that is preparing for what could be a hard fought against an enemy that has been shown to field a force of several hundred warships those two years are invaluable. Over those two years Argus shipyards had been operating at maximum capacity to produce a fleet of ships to handle the threat the Zarinites represented. With the resources now available from the multiple mining sites utilising highly advanced mining technology a massive influx of ships was made possible. Of course with such a large fleet being mounted the question of who would crew them became an issue, a question which had been answered when they first realised what their new shipyard would be capable of.

The US government had long ago recognised the need for secrecy of their personnel's identities, especially if said personnel were involved in operations that were not supposed to be happening. The fact that the SGC program was known publically as being deep space radar telemetry was just an example of this. Homeworld Command was already slated as another one of these secret programs under USOCOM, under the official books Homeworld Command was just a another unit that was manned entirely by people that did not exist. If you had a high enough security clearance however then those fake names were replaced with those of real people who everyday risked their lives to protect the planet. In an expansion of that role twenty thousand people were secretly transferred from all across the US military arms to this secret unit. To cover up such a move an expansion of the armed forces was recognised by the Senate, and fictitious men and women were suddenly proud members of the armed forces. Twenty thousand is such a small number when it is spread out across the entirety of the US military, so the sudden change in numbers was hardly even acknowledged. Similar methods were also being utilised by the other IOA nations which meant a hundred thousand personnel were suddenly available for use in the new fleet and as ground troops. For years they had been training, both at Argus in the shipyards, helping to build the ships they would be crewing, and at the off world training site utilised by the SGC.

But of course soldiers do require paying and while it would be a simple matter to just sell the materials being mined off world it was felt a more eloquent solution was needed to help maintain the economy. After all a flood of precious metals suddenly entering the market at a cheap price would only harm businesses that lacked the advanced mining methods that were part of the Asgard legacy. It was eventually realised that they already had a solution in place and that they only needed to exploit it. For years scientists had been disassembling and taking time to understand the alien technology that they had encountered, and had been producing home grown versions that would eventually be available for public use. Slowly, new technology had been patented but the main areas of research had always been directed in the areas of defence. It was only in more recent years that technology for more general use had been dissected, partly in thanks to the Asgard core and its wealth of information. New patents being released in all areas of industry were subjected to changes in patent law allowing for a longer life and a much more profitable royalties percentage. All of this money was then channelled into a fund that would be dedicated entirely to the planetary defence forces, allowing for them to pay the salary of their personnel as well as the costs of the provisions for their ships, which once again meant a boost for the economy.

These new personnel and provisions were needed, half of the men and women recruited would be sent to work in the fleet. At one time it may have seemed like this was a large number of people for the fleet but then again it had become a very large fleet over the past two years. The fleet had been built in small battle groups, of which there were two kinds. The first were the response groups that consisted of a single 306 and four 307's. The second were generalised combat groups that consisted of one 304 and two 305's. Twenty four response groups and forty two combat groups had been produced in the last two years along with the ships to place the currently built 304's and lone 305 in command of their own combat groups while the Milky Way and Pegasus 306 flagships would be lone rangers with command authority over any other group in their respective galaxies. Including the operational ships and the newly built ones the Tau'ri fleet was now composed of 48 304's, 96 305's, 26 306's and 96 307's. It was a mighty fleet made even fiercer when you consider the advanced technology that was a part of every ship in the fleet, and the Lucians would be made aware that they had awoken a sleeping lion. Now the lion was awake, it was angry and it was about to strike.

* * *

The Alliance attack on Earth had not gone as unreciprocated as their enemy had believed. While it was true that the Tau'ri had not attacked the Alliance in response beyond their usual attempts to destroy kessa shipments that did not mean they did not intend to. It was because of the Tau'ri belief that run into a situation blind will only get you killed that they had not struck back, instead they had slowly been gathering intelligence to determine the Lucian Alliance strongholds and targets of importance. For months now 306's had been scouring known Lucian space, using their advanced sensors and impressive scanning range in an attempt to pinpoint where Alliance assets lay. Multiple worlds had been discovered including Lucia itself, and all of them possessed a fleet of some sort defending them and in some cases ground forces.

One such world was a supply depot of sorts. The question was what was there? Most Alliance worlds had warehouses for the kessa that they farmed since it would need to stored somewhere out of the rain until it could be shipped to wherever it was being sold. This world however did not possess any farms at all, and there were four Ha'tak class vessels in orbit standing guard over the planet. Nevertheless the Tau'ri still planned to attack this world, along with dozens of others, and deal a crippling blow to the Alliance.

In orbit of the planet sat the four Ha'tak, each one heavily armed with numerous staff cannons of different calibres. These ships had come into the possession of the Lucian Alliance through a combination of bribery, blackmail, theft and in a rare case honest purchase. The crews of these ships had no idea of just how much danger their line of work was putting them in.

Right in front of them a hunter pack of four 307's dropped cloaks, raised shields and powered weapons and swooped in to close quarters combat. Further back a combat group emerged from hyperspace ready to clean up what the initial attack wave left behind. Bearing down on the enemy like a pack of wolves the 307's opened fire with their plasma beams, against which the hastily raised shields of the Ha'tak were unable to hold. Swooping around for another pass the wolves continued to claw at their way, ion bolts and railgun rounds smashed weapon turrets while plasma beams pierced the hull armour to destroy critical systems. Before the crews of the Ha'tak could react to the devastation wrought upon them the combat group had already descended upon them and began beaming away the crew of the vessels into the secure and empty hangers of the 305's. The Tau'ri were realists, they knew how many of those in the Lucian Alliance were forced into servitude and it was hoped that they might still be saved. But that was a task for later and for the time being there was still work to be done.

* * *

While all this was happening in orbit a battle was also being waged on the ground. Led by Colonel Reynolds a force of SG-teams and marines had arrived through the stargate intent on making their way to the enemy supply depot and neutralising the enemy. The enemy however seemed to have plans to the contrary and were intent on seeing them carried out.

The Tau'ri soldiers were clad in tempest battle armour. This new armour had been designed utilising a combination of the designs for the Vanir exoskeletons, trinium armour plating, the polymer vest inserts that had been standard for SG teams and the silk nanotube fabric that had been acquired from the Jaffa. The base layer consisted of the fabric in laid with polymer plating, and placed on top of this was the trinium armour plating. The armour also included a helmet with a HUD and an atmospheric seal allowing the wearer to survive in most hostile environments. The end result was a suit of armour in midnight black, before camouflage paint was applied, that General O'Neill suspiciously suspected looked like something worn by the Spartans in Halo. Then he remembered just who he had tasked with designing the armour and realised that this had probably been inevitable given the requirements he had listed for the design.

Clad in their new armour and approaching the collection of warehouses they found themselves subjected to enemy fire. Lucians had been manned barricades along the perimeter of the depot and had opened up on the approaching soldiers with a combination of automatic rifles and staff cannon emplacements. Finding cover behind a cluster of rocks in the middle of the valley the Tau'ri soldiers were pinned down and under heavy fire. Even still they stuck to their training and took what shots they could get, even tossing the occasional grenade at the Alliance forces in an attempt to claim what kills they could.

The situation was very quickly going to hell though and Reynolds couldn't help but be reminded of the conflict on P3X-666. It certainly didn't help that a number of gliders were flying overhead and taking pot shots at them as they flew past. Judging by the amount of firepower to hand it seemed like this supply depot was stocking weaponry in large quantities.

Deciding to call in the cavalry Reynolds activated the subspace communicator in his helmet.

"_Achilles_, this is Colonel Reynolds requesting aerial support. I repeat this is Colonel Reynolds requesting aerial support, please acknowledge."

"Reynolds this is Mitchell." Colonel Mitchell was the one leading the orbital assault half of the attack on the planet. "We got problems of our own up here. It seems like the Lucians had more cards to play than we initially thought. We can handle it but we have our hands full right now and any birds we launch aren't going to make it to the planet without some serious luck."

"Colonel we are pinned down and under fire from enemy aircraft. We need something now," Reynolds very nearly yelled while firing off a burst of fire at the enemy.

"Hang on I may have an option for you." There was a brief pause. "Ok we're beaming down Titan support for you but that's all your getting for now."

Titan? Reynolds wondered. He had heard rumours about projects underway by their extra galactic allies but he had no idea what to expect, and right now he didn't have time to try to remember what he had heard. His troops were in danger and he needed to keep them safe.

"All units open fire on my mark, three second burst then take cover," he said into his comm. "Mark!"

As one the soldiers rose from behind cover and let loose with their weapons on auto. Those with under slung grenade launchers used them while those without sprayed the enemy with ballistic rounds. The Lucians dived for cover, most making it and some only coming away wounded but a few were riddled with holes and fell to the ground in a bloody heap. The tactic had only stalled the inevitable though and they were very quickly about to find themselves subjected to the enemies countermove.

A deep hum, that only grew louder as the seconds passed, filled the battlefield in a chilling overtone. Reynolds knew that sound, oh how he knew it, because it was the sound of an Al'kesh flying low which could only mean one thing. A bombing run was imminent and in their position they would be slaughtered from just a single hit. Seeing the bomber approaching over the depot Reynolds started yelling into the battle net, telling his soldiers to get out of dodge. As the bomber was almost overhead he was screaming for them to move but they were pinned down and under heavy fire. Time seemed to slow as it got closer and he could feel the blood pounding in his ears, his chest painfully tight as he was nearly deafened by his own heart beat.

"MOVE!" he tried to scream but the sight he saw caused the words to die in his throat.

Just as the bomber was almost overhead and the first plasma round was about to be let loose beams of green energy struck the craft. Turning his head to the right he saw more beams coming from beyond the hill surrounding the valley. Looking back at the Al'kesh he saw the barrage of energy beams shatter the bombers shields and tear into the hull. The impact of the beams was strong enough to knock the bomber off course and it swerved away before its engines failed as explosions rippled with each hit on its hull and it started to lose altitude.

Knowing what was going to happen next Reynolds yelled for his men to take cover and as the bomber finally dropped to the ground after drifting for less than a kilometre the damaged craft exploded. The naquadah reactor on the craft, already on the verge of overloading, had detonated when she impacted and the shockwave from the explosion was felt by all.

The Lucians were stunned and actually stopped firing long enough to look towards the hillock where the shots had come from, and what they saw terrified them. Striding forwards onto the hilltop were five black behemoths. Standing ten foot tall and humanoid in shape these fearsome constructs were like nothing the Lucian forces had ever seen, but to the Tau'ri these figures were recognisable as Iron Monger suits from the film Iron Man. Realizing that the Lucians were afraid Reynolds took the initiative and started chanting for all to hear. Titan, titan, titan. The chant was quickly picked up and the words grew louder as more voices were added.

Gliders swooped down from above intent on dealing death on the monsters that had attacked their airborne kin. Opening up with their staff cannons they peppered the monsters with plasma rounds, only for those rounds to impact against orange shields which simply shrugged off the blasts. The return fire from the Vanir Titan's came in the form of twin energy beams from emitters mounted on each shoulder. One by one each Titan targeted an individual glider and brought it down, causing the Tau'ri to cheer. When the last glider had been eliminated the Titans turned their attention to the barricade lines that had hastily turned their weapons to face this new and deadly threat.

Wasting no time and displaying a surprising amount of agility for their apparent weight the five Titans jumped forwards, thrusters in their feet fighting against gravity as they soared forwards to land with a ground shaking thud in front of the barricades. The five metallic hulks surged forwards jumping over the barricades or simply smashing through them, it made no difference to their Vanir operators.

As the Titans carved their way into the enemy lines, opening up on them with triple wrist mounted plasma repeaters or simply tossing the enemy aside, the Tau'ri watched the carnage being unleashed in a sense of awe.

Colonel Reynolds rose to his feet, having no need to fear for his safety now that the Lucians were so distracted by the death dealers in their midst. He looked at his soldiers and was immensely pleased to note they were all still alive. Some had been wounded and were being tended to by the medics but they would live, their tempest armour had saved them from wounds that would have normally killed them. Gripping his M4 his expression turned stern as he looked towards the barricade line, they had started this battle and he would see it finished.

"Ok people," he yelled into the battle net and he marched towards the hot zone. "It's time to finish this fight."

This world would soon be theirs and soon enough they would descend upon Lucia itself. Before this day was out the Lucian Alliance would know fear. The Tau'ri were coming for them, and they were not alone.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	29. The Lion Strikes

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: If my work has grown to such depths it is because i find myself competing with your own own, and i still think i'm losing. A sleeping lion is finally going to strike and they have been preparing for this day for quite some time. **

**Shadows-of-Realm: Some day the fight will end, just not right now because they just had to go and attack Earth.**

**MalSer: Glad to here it.**

**jackpotdante: Well, their weapons are already pretty effective as it goes, the only real downside is the ammo limitations. **

**Jedi Carpet: Its nice to know you would if you could and i'm glad you can now.**

**romanhellhound: The results of what happens when give an advanced civilisation an idea of what could be possible if only the technology exists, and for the Vanir it most certainly does.**

**Sajuuk: I promised to respond to every review, that been said i am glad you like the chapter. However i have no intention of turning this into a crossover outside of the estabilished stargate universe so as AlexanderD told you, no. **

* * *

The planet Lucia had many descriptions depending on who you asked. To the people living there it was home, the place where they lived, where their family lived, the world where their children would grow up and maybe start their own family. Too many outsiders though the planet was home to criminals and covered in shantytowns that were no better than slums. It was a cesspit that should be wiped off the galactic map in order to cleanse the universe of the taint that had resulted from its existence. The Lucian Alliance was viewed with both fear and hate by the people of who knew of them and because of this the planet Lucia was hated which meant its people were hated. It was unfortunate really considering that the Lucians were forced into joining the Alliance more often than not, but the Alliance needed man power and they had served in a way to unite the peoples of Lucia towards a common goal. The Alliance sought to improve their standing in the galaxy with the demise of the Goa'uld, and while this was an admirable goal their methods were not. In recent years Lucia had grown beyond being a planet of slums, standing as the capital world of the Lucian Alliance. Unfortunately it was this very same fact that gave it its description to the Tau'ri. It was the home of their enemy, home to a people who had chosen to grab power at the price of others freedom and civil liberties and more importantly the last fortress of a threat to be neutralised.

The Alliance heads would have thought that this description the Tau'ri had for them was laughable. They were an organization that had risen from nothing to becoming a major galactic power. From the ashes left behind by the System Lords demise a phoenix of an entirely knew kind had risen and they would not fall to humans that had only just arisen as a galactic power themselves. They had been slowly amassing power for years. Even while the Goa'uld stood strong they had been smuggling and selling their services, which had been very much in demand. But what they failed to recognise was the fact that the Tau'ri had risen to power while the Goa'uld were still strong, and in just a decade they had toppled the System Lords one by one. They were a race that had been entrusted with the knowledge and wisdom of the Asgard, a race which the Goa'uld while in their prime had not wanted to antagonise. They also believed that the Tau'ri only possessed a small fleet of ships which, while admittedly were powerful, would be no match for the forces that the Alliance had amassed over the years.

They felt safe in their position, having reinforced Lucia with dozens of Al'kesh and Ha'tak to protect their capital world, so it was a shock when reports filtered back to them that they had begun to lose contact with other worlds. Losing communication with one world was understandable since if the stargate was engaged then they obviously would not be able to establish a connection. But losing contact with multiple worlds was not supposed to happen, not when those worlds also had ships that could use subspace communications to contact the capital. The current leader of the Alliance was Masim, who had made it his mission to rise up in the Alliance in the name of his deceased daughter Kiva. While the Alliance was slowly reforming after Netan's demise Masim had slowly been amassing power, the fact that his daughter was able to gain the position of commander in the Alliance was a sign that he knew who was best suited for what tasks and his daughter had been very good at the tasks he set her. He had even rallied Kefflin to his corner, granting Netans most trusted friend free reign in dealing death and destruction wherever it was needed in exchange for his support. Now he was in a position of true power and he was not willing to lose it, so when the first strange reports started to reach him he immediately gathered the others and reacted to the situation. He immediately ordered that every planet under control of the Lucian Alliance be contacted. He then had every fleet asset away from their home bases be recalled at once after their base was successfully contacted. In the case that a planet could not be contacted he had the fleet assets rerouted to Lucia. The picture that formed was grave. Every single planet under Alliance control they had been unable to contact, every mining world, farming world, shipyard and even the few supply bases they had they were unable to contact. It seemed the only standing bastion left was Lucia itself. Even the independent fleets they had out in the deep black they had been unable to contact. It was as if Lucia had been completely cut off from the rest of the galaxy, they could not contact their deep space fleets or their other planets as the stargate refused to establish a lock and subspace communication could not be established. It had to be that somehow, someway they had been isolated and their lines of communication cut. The only other explanation was that each of their worlds had come under attack and had fallen without even voicing a cry for help.

The truth was far from both these theories. The worlds of the Lucian Alliance had not in fact all fallen without a word and many were in fact still standing. In prelude to a surprise attack it considered a wise move to prevent the enemy from calling in reinforcements or from reporting that the attack has even happened. If you can prevent the enemy from knowing that their defences have been breached then you can deal a critical blow before they are even aware they are vulnerable. The initial stages of the Tau'ri plans to neutralise the Alliance had involved scouting out each Alliance world and secretly placing jamming devices that would prevent anything further than short range communication. Of the Tau'ri themselves were not susceptible to the blades of their own swords since they had positioned ships just beyond the jamming area that were well within short distance communication range. They could co-ordinate their forces as they struck every world the Alliance had stepped on, as well as engaging several fleets of ships.

However even though this method neutralised subspace communications it was still possible to communicate using the gate network. Since beaming away stargates would have alerted the Lucians to their plans a more subtle approach had been needed to neutralise gate communications with Lucia. Infiltration had revealed that while regular reports to Lucia were fairly common under the new leadership communication between the other worlds was not, Lucia was after all the hub for the Lucian Alliance and made regular contact with its worlds for status reports. So it was decided that neutralising the one gate would be far easier a task than disabling dozens. To achieve this they utilised a modified version of the avenger virus that had been developed by Doctor Felger and which had in turn been modified by Ba'al. The virus was originally designed to literally scramble the gate co-ordinates stored within the DHD making dialling other worlds impossible. When Ba'al had further modified it the virus utilised the correlative update system to spread to every DHD in the Milky Way gate network. This newly modified version also utilised the update system to spread itself, however it was programmed to only spread to a single DHD that was the closest to the one originally holding the virus. By placing the virus in a DHD that had been placed on a ship in the fleet just outside of the Lucian home system the virus was transmitted and rendered the gate useless.

Reports were already filtering back to the main fleet near Lucia of successful assaults across multiple worlds as well as readiness for the next wave of attacks. The first attacks had been directed at fleet targets as well as worlds they had limited information about, like the supply depot that Colonel Reynolds had lead the assault against. Fleet targets had been harder to deal with because it had required them to launch precision strikes before the enemy could escape. In these cases sneak attacks combined with overwhelming force had been employed to great effect, allowing them to quickly disable enemy hyperdrives within the first volley using precision strikes from low powered plasma beams. With their only means of escape gone the Ha'tak and groups of Al'kesh were left at the mercy of the combat groups, and even command groups in the case of the larger groups.

As volley after volley of ion bolts shattered shields and plasma beams disabled critical systems the Alliance ships quickly found themselves with only one option remaining, surrender. The fact that this was even an option surprised the Alliance ship crews greatly, with the sheer amount firepower the Tau'ri were displaying they could very easily have destroyed the Alliance vessels outright with a single blow but instead they had only disabled them. The Alliance would have taken this option, if only in a bid to capture the enemy vessels to increase the size of their fleet, but the Tau'ri were unlikely to have any use for the vessels when their own were clearly superior. Which meant the only other reason for disabling the vessels was so that they could acquire prisoners. Of course by the time they came to this conclusion they were already being beamed into empty hangers and rendered unconscious by a stun wave similar to that used by the Wraith. In no fit state to resist they were quickly stripped of their weapons and any pieces of technology they had on them.

**Lucia**

"Well it's almost time," said Janus.

"You don't think this is a little unfair?" asked Morgan. "They have no idea what is about to descend upon them. It'll be a massacre."

"You reap what you sow," said Oma.

The other two looked at her surprised.

"A little cold for you Oma," commented Janus. "I mean yes they did have this coming but I would have thought you of all people would be against such a move."

"What he said," agreed Morgan, equally puzzled by the normally docile ascended beings sudden attitude.

"We know the tree will shed its leaves and spread its seeds, but we cannot say what will happen when they finally fall," said Oma.

"What do you know?" asked Janus.

Oma smirked. "What I have learned over time and through experience."

"That is really unhelpful," said Janus.

Morgan sighed. "I suppose it was too much to ask for a straight answer."

"Mark my words though one of these days…" said an exasperated Janus before running out of steam.

_**Enterprise**_

General O'Neill sat on the bridge of his flagship reading the reports from the other task groups. The first attacks had certainly gone well and early indicators suggested that the rest would proceed just as swiftly but one thing had been made glaringly apparent. While the SGC personnel and the marines that worked with them were quite capable they were not use to fighting on such a large scale when it came to ground battles. They clearly lacked the weaponry necessary to fight large numbers of opponents effectively, and dug in opponents in a fortified position weren't even worth considering. If they found themselves unable to bring in air support then they were out of options in terms of their own and Colonel Reynolds battle against the Alliance had made this fact quite clear. Only the assistance that the Vanir had offered to provide, as a way of field testing the Titans, had allowed for their survival and the success of the mission. That meant they either needed to expand their forces to include vehicles or they needed some Titans of their own. In all honesty both seemed like the appropriate answer since Colonel Reynolds had personally noted that the Titans had proved invaluable. That report certainly reassured the General that including them in the planned attack on Lucia had been the right call. The intimidation factor alone would mean they would be invaluable in gaining control of the ground quickly.

This next battle was going to be the really hard one. All the others they had planned and were even now executing had been simple in comparison. The attack on Lucia would require them to hit the enemy hard and fast without hesitation, only then would they be able to assure victory with minimal casualties. In the next battle it wouldn't just be their own lives at risk but the lives of the civilian population of Lucia, they needed this victory even more so than the Tau'ri did. Just like the Nazi's the first place the Alliance had conquered had been their own home, a fact that people could be quick to overlook. If they were to truly obtain victory here then they would need to kill the head that was the Alliance so that the body that was Lucia would not need to die also, certainly not an easy task.

It would certainly be easy to grind the Lucian Alliance into the dust. To shatter them into fragments and then smash those fragments once again until there was nothing left but atoms. But if they did that then they would lose something of themselves as well, a part of their humanity that made them say know to tyranny, to oppression and slavery, and yes to freedom. If they wished to set the standards that they were to live by then they would need to win this battle the right way, and that made victory so much harder to achieve.

"Attention all forces, this is General O'Neill. Commence the operation."

Around the _Enterprise_ a fleet unlike any seen before had gathered for this one attack. Vessels of the Tau'ri, Free Jaffa and even the Asgard had gathered together with the sole purpose of striking at the heart of the Lucian Alliance, Lucia itself. Upon receiving the signal the allied fleet gathered together the power of their hyperdrives and opened a single massive hyperspace window. This massive void to another dimension promptly swallowed up 33 304's, 66 305's, 25 306's, 40 Beliskner's, a single O'Neill and 16 Ha'tak C's.

**Lucia**

Around this world sat the last remnants of the space forces of the Lucian Alliance consisting of 37 Ha'tak A's and a lone Ha'tak B, the flagship of Masim. Of course Masim and the other Alliance heads had no idea that this was the case. They simply believed that Lucia was about to come under attack from enemy forces and that they had been isolated from the rest of their forces in preparation for this attack so that they could not call in reinforcements when the attack came. Little did they know that they were right and wrong at the same time. Yes they had been isolated from the rest of their forces in preparation for an attack but there were no longer any reinforcements that could be called in. By the time a massive hyperspace window opened and deposited the allied fleet every target that the Tau'ri had planned to assault had been neutralised and the strike forces were already on their way to Lucia.

The reaction from the Alliance ships was absolute panic at the sheer size of the fleet that had been amassed against them. The enemy they faced had a fleet that was over five times larger than their own, and the Ha'tak C's alone would have been capable of destroying them, albeit at considerable loss but it would be a victory nonetheless. Right now surrender seemed like the only chance they had of surviving the hell storm that was about to descend upon them.

Unfortunately that decision lay solely in the hands of the enemy they faced. It was entirely up to them whether or not to give the option of surrender or simply blast them into atoms. Luckily for them that option was apparently on the table.

Broadcasting on an open frequency a subspace message was received by the Alliance fleet as the enemy encroached further and further. Also on the surface of the planet this message was heard courtesy of speaker systems that had been hidden throughout the various shanty towns. On the ships in orbit and on the surface below, the peoples of Lucia stopped and listened to the message being sent to them.

"Attention forces of the Lucian Alliance, this is General Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri and commander of the allied forces that you now face. You are greatly outnumbered and outmatched and have no chance of victory. Surrender at once and I promise that no harm will come to you, but those that do not will be taken by force. If you wish to surrender then lower your shields immediately and prepare to be taken into custody."

Many people on the ships were silently thanking whatever being had decided that they deserved mercy rather than outright destruction. But it seemed their illustrious leader was not one of these people given the nature of his reply.

"I am Masim of the Lucian Alliance," was the angry reply. "You Tau'ri dogs will never see the Lucian Alliance bow down to the likes of you. You will pay for your crimes that much I swear."

"Masim I know who you are and why you are angry but what is done is done and cannot be changed."

"I will have your head for what you have done," Masim shouted back. "You will pay for the death of my daughter with the lives of your people. None of you shall escape my wrath. That first attack was just the beginning. I will drop hundreds, no thousands of bombs upon your world."

"No Masim," O'Neill shouted back, now equally as angry. "It is you who shall feel our wrath. For your crimes against innocent people of my world and of this galaxy you shall pay. You and the rest of the Alliance leadership will be captured or killed of that I swear. You got lucky the first time round and managed to drop a bomb over heads, a bomb that failed to go I might add but still cost the lives of innocent people and for that you will pay."

There was a pause as O'Neill took a breath to calm himself before continuing.

"Your daughter led an attack against my people and we rightly defended ourselves and as a result she was killed. I know what it is like to lose a child and it is a pain I wish no one should have to experience but it was her own actions that cost her her life and nothing is going to change that. I have seen too many innocent people suffer in my time because of the actions of a few with a score to settle and I will not willingly let it happen again. This is going to end right here, right now one way or the other but not at the cost of innocent peoples lives."

"So what will you do if I say that I will never surrender to the likes of you General?" Masim spat.

"Then you will be captured by force and be brought to face justice the hard way."

"You will not take me alive General. I would rather die than live and have failed to avenge my daughter."

"Is that your final answer? You won't surrender?"

"It is."

"Very well then. Anyone on the ships in orbit who do wish to surrender should drop their shields immediately. You have ten seconds to comply, starting now."

By the time the ten seconds had expired several things had happened. The allied fleet had descended on the Alliance ships and had them completely surrounded. Well over half the Alliance ships had lowered their shields, the first few having triggered a domino effect that resulted in more and more succumbing to the fear for their lives. The allied fleet had also powered their weapons and systematically targeted each of the enemy vessels in orbit of the planet.

Once the time was up they acted. Those ships that had lowered their shields had their interiors set alight with white light as the crews were beamed away and taken into custody, just like their comrades before them. Meanwhile those that hadn't had their shields repeatedly pounded at by very, very low powered ICT rounds. These individual shots were hardly anything for the Ha'tak to worry about, but on mass they would be capable of breaking their shields in no time. But even if their shields failed the armour of the ships would be able to disperse the energy and easily withstand the hit if they remained at such a low power level, and that was exactly what was being counted on. Against such a mass of shots being levelled at them the shields of the Ha'tak vessels quickly failed, and once they did there was nothing stopping the crews of the vessels from being beamed away. Once the Alliance vessels had been swept clean of their crews the Jaffa vessels started to ring aboard new crews to move the ships away from orbit. With orbital supremacy being held by the 304's and 305's and the lone O'Neill the rest of the allied fleet slowly descended into the atmosphere with the Asgard vessels leading the way.

From the surface of Lucia and to the people that lived there it looked like the sky was being electrified as the Asgard drive systems excited the atmosphere forming storm clouds as a result. Then from the storms that blocked out the sun emerged ship after ship of three different types, and each of which were strikingly different to any they had ever seen before. As the people stood and stared at the mighty vessels that came to rest in the skies above them beams of white light like spotlights reached out from the dark purple vessels and swept across the surface. Whenever these beams passed over a person that person preceded to inexplicably vanish from where they stood before the light had moved on. Fear started to grip them as more and more people were ferreted away to places unknown and in a blind panic they tried to run away but to no avail as the lights were faster than they were. It was not until the last person had vanished from the area of land beneath that the beams blinked out of existence and the ships moved on to their next destination.

The capital city of Lucia was mainly composed of a Goa'uld built temple like structure that had been abandoned an age ago when the Naquadah mines had run dry. Left to fend for themselves the peoples of Lucia had been unable to build anything as advanced as the temple structure to live in and had been forced to build the various shanty towns when overcrowding became an issue. When the Alliance had moved to seize power in the wake left by the System Lords this former temple had become the palace to whoever ruled the Alliance, now it belonged to Masim. What had once been a temple was now a small fortress with numerous staff cannons mounted along its walls and a salvage armour type shield protecting it from orbital bombardment. This was the final bastion where Masim would make his stand against those who had come for him. Escape by gate travel was no longer an option since it simply refused to establish a lock no matter what address they tried so now he was forced to weather the storm that was even now almost upon him.

Outside the palace the streets were empty and void of the life that would normally inhabit them. That was about to change, and not for the better as far as Masim was concerned. In a flash of white light twenty Titans appeared before the main gate of the temple only to be immediately hit by the torrential downpour of staff cannon blasts. The Titans had been selected for this mission though because of their resilience and they easily weathered the storm directed at them. From the dust cloud that encompassed them shot out green beams of energy that shattered the once strong gatehouse of the capital building. When the dust finally cleared all that was left was a pile of rubble and a number of groaning Lucian soldiers. With their objective clear the Titans strode into the palace and broke up into four groups. One of the groups stayed by the remains of the main gate to prevent anyone who might try to escape while the others proceeded deeper into the palace, with the Goa'uld inclination to large corridors working in their favour.

The Titans proceeded deeper and deeper into the palace overcoming any obstacle the Lucians put up against them. Masim had gathered only the most loyal soldiers to act as his personal guard and they defended their leader with a fanaticism that defied reason. They hurled themselves at the Vanir exoskeletons in an attempt to harm the metallic monsters only to be swept aside with ease. Against the Titans any resistance the Lucians could muster was useless, their projectile weapons barely able to scratch the naquadah trinium armour plating. The only weapons they had that were moderately effective were the staff cannons but when faced by them the Titans simply raised their shields and opened up on them with plasma repeaters instead of tossing aside the enemy soldiers.

It wasn't long before the metallic monsters reached the throne room and smashed their way through the gold covered doors. Inside Masim and the best of his men were waiting for them. When the five Titans tore through the door they opened up with everything they had. The fear on their faces though when the ten foot monsters walked through the door would have made Sokar smile, they had never seen such things and it was only made worse as the things picked up the nearest soldiers and tossed them across the room.

Masim backed away in terror as the five hulks approached, casually tossing aside anyone that dared to get in their way. As one of them approached he crumpled to the floor as he hit the back wall. He hastily got to his feet again, continuing to fire his pistol at the foe before him. The Titan raised its open hand and reached out towards Masim. The Titans hand shot out and slammed Maim against the wall, his feet dangling a whole three feet off the ground. The force of impact sent his gun clattering to the floor and Masim found himself pinned in place by the massive hand across his torso, the Titans fingers having been sunk several inches into the wall. As the rest of his guards were swept aside and formed up around the beast that had pinned in place, keeping guard of their captive.

"What are you waiting for?" he managed with the little air in his lungs.

The Titan lowered its head to look at him, its glowing white eyes void of emotion. In a deep booming voice the thing replied.

"We are waiting for the others to disable the shield generator preventing us from beaming out," the Titan operator stated.

"Then what?" he asked breathlessly.

"Then you will face justice."

As the creature spoke those words an explosion shook the palace, marking the destruction of the shield generator preventing beaming out. With that barrier no longer present the occupants of the planet were whisked away in a flash of light.

In a wide bowl like valley of dust the men and women of the planet Lucia and the Lucian Alliance reappeared in a flash of light until the entire basin was filled. As was expected they were disorientated from the sudden relocation, some of them arrived unconscious having been taken prisoner on other worlds or rendered so during the fighting. Overhead elongated death gliders soared, coming to rest above the edge of the basin. The rings imbedded in the back of the gliders activated and began depositing Jaffa warriors that had been trained under Teal'c, as indicated by their plasma rifles and trinium armour. In flashes of light they were joined the Titans that the Lucians who had faced them had come to fear. Meanwhile the ships of the allied fleet that had entered the atmosphere had gathered over the valley, their numbers in danger of blocking out the sun itself.

As the captured Lucian Alliance members were asking themselves what was about to happen to them three giant holograms appeared before them. These holograms were of Teal'c, General O'Neill and Thor.

"People of the Lucian Alliance," began O'Neill. "The time has come for change."

Above his head a hologram image of a brig aboard a Tau'ri vessel appeared. In it were the leaders of the Lucian Alliance, with notable faces being Kefflin and Masim.

"The Lucian Alliance under its previous and current leadership have been antagonistic not only to the Tau'ri but to the peoples of this galaxy as a whole," Jack continued. "As a result the races you see before you have gathered together to bring an end to the Lucian Alliance in its current form. Now all of you have been gathered here at Lucia for one reason, a reason I will soon explain to you. But before that there is something you must be made aware of. Lucia is not the only world that our forces have visited today. Before we came here our forces have destroyed every single shipyard, mining site and kassa farm in the Alliance domain. All of your stored weapons and resources have been taken and in the case of the kassa destroyed, and all of your ships have been captured. Now you have a choice to make. The leaders of the Alliance are going to be exiled to live on this world and will not be allowed use of the stargate. However we realise that many of you do not agree with the policies of the Alliance and have been forced into working for them since you were children. If you so choose you may leave this world for a new one, a world where you be given a chance to start over as a people. The Asgard have kindly agreed to protect this world and help those that choose to live there make a new start. However those that would try to restart the Lucian Alliance using its original doctrine of taking what you want by force you will be left here. Make no mistake the Asgard are a great and noble race but you do not want to cross them after they show you compassion."

The spotlights that had swept up the people Lucia not so long ago now returned, only this time they remained fixed in place on the inside of the basin.

"All of you that wish to live on New Lucia step forward, all of you that you wish to remain here stay where you are. I would advise you to accept this offer because it won't be offered again."

Slowly the crowds started to move forwards towards the beams of light and one by one the people of the Lucian Alliance began to vanish. Undoubtedly there were those amongst them who wanted a new start free from the Alliance, some probably only wanted to get off this rock and find somewhere else in the galaxy to live while maybe a few thought they could bide their time and start their own new Alliance somewhere. What they didn't realise was that the Asgard would test each of the people they were taking as their wards and determine what their motives were, and those that had no intention of changing their ways would be left behind on Lucia with the rest of the Alliance leadership.

"Well well well," said Janus. "That was certainly interesting."

"You knew didn't you?" Morgan asked Oma.

"I suspected," she said. "But sometimes all you can have is faith. Faith that people will choose the nobler path."

"In other words you just hoped," Morgan stated.

"I had faith," Oma assured them.

"I suppose if the Asgard were lending a hand then it wasn't going to be a massacre," admitted Janus.

"Oh I don't know I remember what Thor was like when it came to Goa'uld stepping foot on one of the worlds he was protecting," said Morgan.

"People change," said Janus. "Look at me."

"Yes it has been a while since you built something that is going to cause someone a headache," said Morgan as she and Oma departed.

"You're one to talk Morgan," Janus yelled after her.

**Pegasus Galaxy – Wraith Shipyard/Colony**

The world was one of the many colonies that the Wraith had established since Echidna had retaken her place as Matriarch. This particular world had a small housing capacity and was focused more on the large shipyard it was home to. Being an important world it was appropriately defended by a number of ships placed around the system, the nearest of which to the planet at the moment was a Wraith carrier. This vessel was much like a hive ship only much thinner and carrying five times the number of darts, or in this case hornets. These vessels were much less focused on personnel carrying and more on combat and featured all of the upgrades that Todd had created.

A hyperspace window opened above the world and a dozen arrow shaped ships exited and immediately began firing on the shipyard below. The carrier immediately started moving towards the attacking fleet and fifty thousand hornets were launched in an attempt to overwhelm them with sheer weight of numbers. But by the time they had gotten in range to start firing the ships had powered their hyperdrives and escaped into hyperspace. The enemy had been driven off but the damage had already been done. The shipyard had been heavily damaged and thousands of Wraith had become casualties as a result.

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**Please review. **

**I now have a request from you readers. What would you like to see in future chapters? What aspect of the universe i have created do you want me to expand upon? What do you want to see more of? Let me know and i will try to include it.**


	30. Small Battles

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

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**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Its a bad day if i can't think up a cruel cliffhanger, they are so much fun. Realistically it is the only sensible option if you want to not be looked down upon by a race you owe so much to so i think this will keep the Asgard happy. Besides a lot of the LA were in the same position as the Jaffa so that settled it.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: That is something i have been aware of since i first started writing this. There are many dangers lurking in the deep black waiting to come out and play.**

**orionastro: Glad you like it. As i mentioned in my message current Tau'ri tech makes things like phasers and photon torpedoes rather pointless to develop what with plasma beams, mark ix's and drone weapons covering all bases. **

**jackpotdante: Minimum civilian casualties, check. **

**Jedi Carpet: I'm glad you think so. I was worried people might dislike the slightly soft handed approach.**

**Hydroplatypus: Everyone wants to see a threat emerge. I suppose if you want to hide something you put it in plain sight.**

**steamedgreal: I'm glad you are enjoying it.**

**laneteanscribe: Request achknowledged. I'll see what i can do.**

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_**Valley Forge**_

From the outside the station situated between two stations seemed quite peaceful, with no ships coming or going from her numerous hanger bays. In the space around it all was calm but the gate room was alive with frantic activity. Marching in line out of the Milky Way stargate was a procession of Titan battlesuits and eventually even the substantial space of the large gate room would be filled to capacity. Mechanical giant after mechanical giant emerged from the gate only to be followed by another one. Each one of the metal warriors looked pristine, almost like they had suffered no battle damage at all which in fact they hadn't their shields having performed flawlessly in battle against the admittedly low yield weapons the Lucian Alliance had wielded against them. There were no humans in the gate room, there wasn't room for them, and instead they had retreated back to the observation platforms lining the long sides of the gate room where they could marvel at their ally's latest creation.

Patiently the Vanir and Asgard that were piloting their respective suits waited for the rest of their race to emerge from the event horizon so that they could dial the Pegasus gate and return to the Vanir City on Vanheim. There the suits would receive maintenance and have their combat performance analyzed, with the results determining what the future would be for the suits design. Unbeknownst to the humans watching from above two of the suits pilots were in the middle of a rather heated debate while they waited for the time to pass.

"Look I'm telling you young one that nine times out of ten you are more than likely to come off worse from that one extra hit you couldn't take than a single knock out blow," argued a confident female voice.

"Well I am telling you that you are more likely to be bombarded by firepower and if you keep getting pummelled then you are going to go down if you can't take all the hits," a distinctly male voice argued back.

The other Asgard pilots who had resisted the urge to change frequencies simply rolled their eyes at the argument that had been going on for so long. What had in fact started as a calm and reasoned argument with scientific fact to back up their own arguments had eventually regressed to the point that the two were now trying to use metaphors to get their point across, and neither side was willing to back down.

"Freyr listen to your elders because we know what we are talking about. Barriers are all well and good until you get hit by something hard enough to punch through them and against something that can do that trinium armour won't hold out for a second."

"Maybe Skade but until we start seeing an enemy with a weapon capable of doing that then we are better off with barriers rather capacitor shields. These suits were designed to get in the thick of combat and in the middle of a battle in something this big you are only going to be a massive target for every gun the enemy has. Barriers will be able to hold out against everything thrown against you even if you are being hit from all sides, something the Ori proved rather well when they launched their crusade."

"A barrier shield drains far more power per second its active though because it is at a constant level of strength, the enemy only has to keep chucking rocks at you and eventually your crystal power cells will run out just from maintaining such a strong barrier, not to mention the fact that they are limited by how much power you can pump out. Besides with a capacitor shield you can resist a large burst of energy that would otherwise tear right through your barrier shields, not to mention that you can recharge so that you can keep fighting for longer."

"And I keep telling that if you are going to be hit constantly a barrier is the only thing between you and getting pummelled into the ground," Freyr stated factly turning his suit towards the Vanir.

"And I keep telling that a barrier can only take so much in one spot before it fails and the excess starts leaking though," Skade argued turning her own suit to face the Asgard.

"Enough both of you!" yelled a male voice causing both Asgard to wince.

"Sorry Supreme Commander Thor," apologised Freyr. "I didn't know that you were listening to our little debate."

"A debate is just a quiet argument," stated Thor as the suit in front of the bickering pair turned around. "And you two were certainly not quiet."

Freyr winced as he realised that not only had he been overhead by the Supreme Commander but he had been standing only a meter away. Freyr may also be a member of the Asgard High Council and so of the same station but he had heard the legends of the great warrior same as any Asgard.

"Well tell us what you think then Supreme Commander and we can settle this once and for all," requested Skade politely.

"I think you two have both missed the point the other was trying to make," Thor stated calmly. "And as a result you have failed to realise that a solution already exists that satisfies both problems."

"And what would that be?" asked Skade curiously.

"A strength adjusting barrier shield powered by a capacitor and generator combination. In other words the same design that the Alteran city ships utilise," said Thor before turning round.

"You know that's actually a pretty good idea," admitted Skade.

"That's why he's the Supreme Commander," said Freyr.

"Indeed," said Thor with an unseen smile.

"You know," said Skade on a now private channel. "He reminds me of Njord in his younger days."

"I definitely agree with you there," said Freyr. The legends of Njord were just as well known as those about Thor.

"You know I heard a rumour that he was the one who captured the Lucian Alliance leader," said Skade.

"So did I actually," admitted Freyr. "But I thought he was on the O'Neill during that battle. I didn't think he was actually on the front lines."

"Well apparently he was," said Skade. "I guess the rumour must have been true."

"It certainly looks that way."

While this argument was going on the last of the Titans were emerging from the stargate and they were finally ready to send them through to the Vanir city on Vanheim. For this leg of the journey however there would be no need for them to simply walk through the Pegasus stargate as for the sake of speed and practicality transporters would be used. The inspiration for this idea came from the transport obelisk that Morgan Le Fey had used to periodically shift the location of Merlin and lab. Since the Vanir gate room lacked the ability to provide easy access to the rest of their city due to fear of a Wraith attack it would be a long and arduous task to bring the large group through on foot. So they were using the transport receiver which, as an act of friendship, the Tau'ri had gifted the Vanir with a variant of that was of their own design. As the group of Titans were beamed to other side they would be relayed to a dedicated hanger further away from the gate room and once there the pilots could finally disembark from the suits.

This particular technological upgrade was not the only change that the _Valley Forge_ had undergone in the past two years. With a much larger fleet now in existence the need arose for a much larger port for the ships to potentially stop at during trips between galaxies, not to mention the fact that much larger ships now required a place to dock with the construction of so many Pegasus-class ships. As it currently stood though if one of those ships couldn't make it from one galaxy to the next then they were unlikely to make it the distance between voids so this wasn't considered a great issue since the ships were designed as mobile stations primarily. Some forethought had gone into this however when the design was first considered. It had been realised that a group of individual anchorages would be highly vulnerable since they could be individually targeted. So it was decided to add the option to add sections to the station that were also capable of operating independently. The original Midway II possessed docking clamps at either end to allow the station to connect to a modified station of the same class. The modified versions had open topped main hangers with each end having the openings on the reverse facing. The draw back however being that this left them slightly more vulnerable to attack due to the removal of half the defensive weaponry on that particular facing. To make up for the lack of armour though a secondary shield was added to cover the hangers and allowing for atmosphere retention. Aside from this particular design change the only other change was the addition of an internal transporter grid, the same addition the _Valley Forge_ had, and the removal of the gate room. The main command area was left intact but the controls were relegated to those on the _Valley Forge_.

So far six of these modules had been constructed and were in position to be connected, a task which would be completed once the Titans had left. The limited number was due to the fact that the Tau'ri were currently negotiating with the Averians for the basic design plans for _Hope_.

One major change to the modules design was the lack of a fighter compliment. While _Valley Forge_ had at first possessed F-302's those were the only fighters present on the upgraded station. The additional modules hangers had not been equipped with 302's but Tau'ri recon drones. At four metres long, one and a half metres wide and a metre in height, and bearing a passing resemblance to a stealth bomber, these slightly boxy craft were arguably the most un-aerodynamic aircraft the Tau'ri had ever produced. But equipped with stealth technology, anti-gravity, an advanced crystal processor and a mini naquadah generator they were high tech enough for this to matter little. Adding onto the list twin plasma blasters, eight naquadah-potassium rockets and the ability to operate independently or remotely and they made ideal scout and patrol craft. The recon drones were present on every 306 in the fleet, and had been ever since the _Weir_ had been launched, possessing their own hanger below the puddle jumper hanger. To date though the drones had never been needed and so had never been seen in action but if they could ever acquire the plans for _Hope_ then the fighters on the station would be replaced with these automated defenders.

* * *

_**Atlantis**_

The millennia old city rested gently on the calm ocean surface, the sky a clear blue and the sun shining down. The past two years had been the most peaceful that the new inhabitants had ever experienced since the first of them set foot in the city seven years ago.

On the observation deck on the command tower Richard Woolsey leant against the railing and reflected on what had brought him to this time and place. Although he had not been the appointed leader of the expedition, or even a member, for as long as most of the unsung heroes who called this city home he had found a place here. At first the cities inhabitants had viewed him with a certain amount of hostility, he was a by the book man appointed by the IOA to enforce their will, even if that will was misguided. It wasn't long before he had had his eyes forced open and he came to realise that the rules are there for a reason but you can't always follow the rules and do the right thing. The rules are all followed in an ideal universe, and the Pegasus galaxy was not only far from an ideal universe at times but operated with its own rule book entirely. In a galaxy where there are space vampires knocking on your door that are more than willing to either eat you or settle for blasting you into the stone age you have to adapt to the circumstances.

Being out here in the grand universe, not trapped on a single world, you quickly had your horizons broadened. So the rest of the city had come to accept him as a leader and as an individual. He had definitely changed in just that first year alone, but he could see that it was a change for the better. The people in this city were his responsibility and that meant he had to do what was best for them, even if he rest of the IOA disagreed with what was best for them.

In the background he could hear the gentle hum of the stargate powering up. Straightening he turned and walked into the control room in time to see the sixth symbol lock into place.

"What have we got Chuck?" he asked. It had taken a while but he finally remembered the gate technicians name correctly.

"Unscheduled off world activation sir," Chuck replied as the seventh symbol locked and the event horizon formed, the kawoosh was contained by the shield. "Wait…receiving IDC. Its Midway sir."

"Lower the shield."

With the shield lowered the travellers were free to step through. From the event horizon emerged the business suit clad form of Carl Strom, along with the rest of the IOA representatives.

Woolsey decided to borrow one of McKay's lines of choice for situations like this.

"Oh crap," he muttered.

Out loud he said "Welcome to _Atlantis_," and attempted to sound sincere.

The silence that radiated from everyone else in the control room was deafening. You could hear the sound of a pin drop.

* * *

"Now that we're all seated I have to ask, what brings you all here?" Woolsey asked.

The expedition leader and the other members of the IOA had eventually relocated to the conference room after the IOA members had been given a brief courtesy tour of the great city and been assigned temporary quarters. With all the IOA board members sitting across from him the atmosphere being created seemed almost oppressive. It almost looked like he was being called before the IOA members to answer for his actions.

"Well," began Carl Strom, the head of the IOA. "We so rarely get the chance to get out and see the universe we hear so much from you all about. But with the opportunity presented by the removal of the Lucian Alliance threat and Destiny's rest period we thought it was about time we do something to change that."

"So here you are," said Woolsey, more dryly than he intended given the circumstances.

"Here we are," said Strom, with a faint smile playing on his lips.

"I must admit it is nice to be back in _Atlantis_," said Shen, the Chinese representative, sickly sweetly. "I look forward to spending more time here."

The unspoken implication was not lost on Woolsey. He remembered the last time she had come to _Atlantis_ while he was in command she had to usurp him from his position. He fully intended to make the time that she, and the rest of the IOA, spent in _Atlantis_ as short as possible, and more importantly limited.

"Well I hope your personal report on your time spent here will be just as flattering as last time Ms Xiaoyi," said Woolsey. "Although since my command style hasn't changed in the slightest since then I cannot see any reason for it not to be."

Shen shot him a look that hinted that she was restraining herself. Politically she was backed into a corner since that report meant that he unofficially had her support providing he did nothing out of the ordinary.

"Your record of accomplishments cannot be doubted," said Coolidge, the American representative. "You have been quite successful during your time here, much like Colonel Carter during her time."

"It almost seems a waste of your talents to be stuck here," added Shen. "There hasn't been much for you to do here in the past two years that's worthy of your talents."

"It's nice to know how much I am appreciated by you all," said Woolsey, his experience as a lawyer coming into play.

"Even your more questionable decisions when you went against established protocol can be seen as having been beneficial in the end," said Jean LaPierre, the French representative.

"Of course when one is in such extraordinary circumstances one has to go with the flow as it were," said Russel Chapman, the British representative. "You see some extraordinary things out here and it's difficult to not be affected by them."

"Although with your success in _Atlantis_ one wonders what would be next for you," said Shen.

"When such a time comes I will rise to the challenge," said Woolsey diplomatically.

Clearly they couldn't simply chuck him out for doing a job, which he had known from before they had turned up. Ironically Shen's positive review was working against them. Woolsey figured that they were trying to find evidence that he was being 'wasted' in this position since it had been so quiet lately.

"Of course a replacement for you would be hard to find," continued Strom. "But clearly the city benefits from being under the command of an IOA representative."

"I'm sure someone suitable will be eventually found," said Woolsey, rising from his seat to the surprise of the others. "However I am afraid we will have to consider this another time as I have an urgent appointment to keep."

"An appointment?" asked Strom surprised. An expression mirrored by the other IOA members.

"Nothing to worry about just finalising some negotiations with a man I have been fortunate enough to call a friend over the past two years," said Woolsey with a smile as he casually strode down into the gate room as the IOA members followed in tow.

"He should be arriving about now," and right on cue the stargate lit up.

"Scheduled off world activation," said Chuck with a smirk that went unnoticed by the slightly shocked IOA members.

Emerging from the shimmering event horizon strode Minister Jakose, straight from Averia.

"Ah Richard," said Jakose with a beaming smile, his eyes darting to the assembled IOA delegation. "It's good to see you again. I very much look forward to sealing this particular deal."

"Glad you could come Javin," said Woolsey shaking his friend by the hand. "I must apologise for any inconvenience this might have caused you."

"Nonsense, it was no trouble at all. What is the point of being the leader of a galactic power if you can't reschedule an important appointment? My people have been looking forward to further solidifying the bonds between us so why would anyone complain about moving it forward."

"Ah yes I have what you requested and I trust you have what we agreed on?"

"Indeed I do," said Jakose as he held up his hand to reveal a small white stone. "I took the liberty of having it put onto one of the Vanir's data drives for you. It should save you a bit of time."

"That was very kind of you," said Woolsey. "I'm sure Thor will appreciate it."

"But enough about business for now," said Jakose turning to face the IOA delegation. "I believe you have yet to introduce us."

"Of course," said Woolsey before introducing each of them.

"Pleased to meet you all," said Jakose after the last hands had been shaken.

"And you Minister," said Strom, who had finally caught up with the situation happening around him. "I believe you mentioned a deal that involves the Asgard in some way."

"A minor trade between our peoples," explained Jakose. "Your people are being kind enough to gift us with a mining world close to _Hope_ and a stargate to go with it, along with an introduction to the coalition. You know they hold Richard here in very high regard, of course like me they have had the chance to get to know him quite well over the years and he has certainly earned their trust. "

"And what are we getting in return?" asked Coolidge attempting to steer the conversation in a more favourable direction.

"The design plans for _Hope_," said Woolsey to the utter shock of the IOA delegates.

"You mean the space station you designed as a fallback should your homeworld ever be lost?" asked Strom.

"Yes, but only the basic design plans," said Jakose.

"The basics?" asked Shen.

"Superstructure, internal layout and basic support systems including blast doors, life support, light and artificial gravity," Jakose explained.

"So none of the weapons, shields, power generators or command systems designs is included then," Shen stated flatly.

"Nor are the maintenance robots that look like scorpions," said Woolsey. "McKay and Zelenka were very fond of those designs I recall."

"From what I understand you are certainly going to be coming out ahead in the end though," said Jakose. "A very suitable replacement for your Midway station I believe."

"It will take a long time to build such a station though," stated Shen, determined to point out the flaws in this agreement.

"Thank goodness for friends in high places," said Jakose with a smile.

"What friends?" asked Shen.

In a flash of light Thor appeared before them, leaving the IOA stunned once again.

"Ah Thor," said Woolsey. "Excellent timing."

"O'Neill informed me that the trade agreement would shortly be completed so I made sure to get here as quickly as possible," said Thor. "My ships have already begun collecting the remains of Abydos and Asura. The excess neutronium we are collecting will be more than enough compensation for the task."

"What task?" asked Strom, once again playing catch up.

"Construction of the new Midway station and modification of the design plans to bring it up to par with your current technology," stated Thor.

"What kind of upgrades?" asked Strom, his curiosity peaked.

"Replacement of the beam weapons, heavy plasma cannons, light plasma cannons and missile batteries with Grodins, plasma beams, ion cannons and drone weapons respectively," said Thor. "The inclusion of neutrino-ion generators, your latest shield designs, industrial construction beams, matter synthesisers, an internal and external transporter grid, deep space sensors, a more powerful subspace communication array and a gate room like your current Midway possesses. We are also increasing the size of the arm hangers so they can each hold one of your Pegasus-class vessels. We'll also relocate the Valley Forge to wherever you require once the new station is complete."

The silence that followed was broken only by the slight snickering from the gate room technicians and other expedition members taking in the show.

"You know," said Jakose, with a face of mock hurt. "I think I might actually be jealous of you."

"We are very welcome," said Woolsey, with a small smile.

"Yes, we are," said Strom as he processed just what they would be gaining.

"For the sake of convenience we will be building the station in the same system as your mining world and then moving it to the void," said Thor.

"And here are the design plans for you Supreme Commander," said Jakose, handing the Asgard the data stone.

"Ah," said the Asgard, looking at the stone intently. "It has been a while since I saw one of these."

"I thought it might bring back some memories," said Jakose. "You get a piece of your history and Richard gets another great achievement to add to the list. It was a pleasure meeting you all."

As Thor beamed away he started to stroll away with Woolsey.

"Well that's the vultures dealt with I think my friend," said Jakose quietly.

"Thank you for your help," said Woolsey, gratefully.

"Think nothing of it. I've dealt with their kind in my time."

"I'm just grateful that I was able to stall them with that tour."

"They should never have given you even that amount of time to prepare a defence."

"Well now they know better."

The IOA members just stood there for a while, not quite able to comprehend how they had been so easily outmanoeuvred. Strangely though they got the feeling that, even though they couldn't see or hear anyone, there was a group of people standing right next laughing their heads off. They put it down to their paranoia, after all they couldn't think of anyone who could go completely unnoticed. Of course others know better.

* * *

In a flash of light from a hyperspace window opening and closing a Wraith hive emerged back into real space. The hive was one of the latest designs and was the personal ship that Todd used when he wasn't travelling on the _Arima_. The hive was gifted with all the latest upgrades, stronger bio-armour, additional power generators and naquadah power boosters.

As the ship settled into orbit Todd opened a channel to the city ship on the planet below.

"Todd," said Woolsey. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a message from the Matriarch, the Wraith are going to war."

Woolsey visibly winced. "What happened?"

"The Zarinites attacked one of our shipyards," Todd said in a grave tone. "Many Wraith are dead as a result."

"I'm sorry for your people's loss. I'll convene an emergency meeting of our leaders immediately. In the mean time why don't you take a transport down to the city."

"I'll be with you shortly."

Once the link was severed Woolsey immediately started issuing orders.

"Contact all ship commanders and off world sites and inform them to go on high alert. Send a subspace data burst to Earth informing them of the situation and tell Colonel Sheppard I want him here at once. Then send the same message to Minister Jakose. Oh and contact Thor and tell him I would like him present as well, it looks like our plans are changing."

* * *

**Please Review. I'm still taking ideas, anything you think this story is missing let me know and i will try to include it.**


	31. We need to talk

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: If there is dullness in the stargate universe then its told to move along to make way for terror and excitement before anyone spots it. Who can say what the future holds for the coalition? Oh wait me, hee hee. **

**Shadows-of-Realm: We shall see. Or rather you shall see. I have already seen. **

**orionastro: It is a dream i would like to see become a reality. Maybe in the far future it may be possible but not right now.**

**Hydroplatypus: Some enemies cannot be easily crushed into the dirt. Its hard to smash an enemy to pieces though when you don't know where they are.**

**Shafter: Yes they are, they're just called the Zarinites because they were led by a man named Zarin and no one actually knows their name.**

**Malser: What an interesting word hornswaggled. I'll remember it for the future.**

* * *

**Pegasus – Tau'ri Mining System**

The system was usually not so busy, even with the near constant shipments of resources the system rarely saw much ship traffic but now was a different story. The entire fleet of Asgard Beliskner-class vessels, all of them fifty of them, was sitting in system working to build the new Tau'ri space station under the watchful eye of the _O'Neill_. Half of the assembled ships had only recently arrived in the system having come from the Milky Way galaxy. There they had been picking the debris field, which had formally been the planet Abydos, clean of any all useful materials, and given that the planet had been one of Ra's naquadah mines naturally mainly consisted of naquadah. There were of course a number of other useful elements amongst the floating pile of rubble and all of them were collected as well courtesy of the large transport array mounted on the nose of the ship. The other half of the fleet had been at Asura performing a similar operation, with the priority material being neutronium. The station would require a lot of material for its construction and the remains of two planets certainly cover it, with the excess material being left in the hands of the Asgard. Neutronium was a vital element of Asgard technology and the Asgard needed it both for their own personal uses and for the numerous examples of Asgard technology that were being installed in the station.

The station was going to be a testament to what the Tau'ri and Asgard could accomplish when they pooled their collective knowledge and creativity. Thor had been leasing with General O'Neill and Colonel Carter about the base requirements for the upgrade for some time. The Averians had been kind enough to point out that the station would be easy enough to upgrade to utilise the more advanced technology after they had admitted that they were hesitant to hand over the complete plans for the station for only resources. The compromise had been only the superstructure plans with the insides stripped of any technology. Upon receipt of the plans the Asgard had then set about filling in the gaps based off of the requirements that had previously been discussed. As it turned out this wasn't such a hard job as one might think since it was mainly a matter of filling in the blanks with their versions of the technology as well as altering the plans slightly. The only major alterations had come in the form of expanding the arms of the station to be large enough to hold the Pegasus-class vessels that the Tau'ri now had in double digits. This was actually a lot easier than you might think since the arms themselves were designed to operate as independent sections, should they become damaged to the point that they would compromise the rest of the station. Enlarging them meant they simply had a few more entry hatches running along their length linking to the rest of the station but the insides of the arms underwent a slightly more interesting change though. The hanger bays remained the same layout wise but now featured industrial beams for ship repair and construction purposes and of course the fighter craft were being replaced entirely with fighter drones.

These drones were being placed under the management of the stations onboard AI control system, a programming replica of ISIS, housed in a highly advanced computer core of Asgard design that fitted quite snugly in the gap left by the Averian version. Even replacing the weapons array with the more powerful ones currently being utilised by the Tau'ri was easily done as they would be powered by neutrino-ion generators which were far more powerful than the ones the Averians had at their disposal, allowing for the weapons to be powered along with a significant increase in shield strength, a four fold increase as it happened. Deep space sensors, transport emitters, internal transport booths and matter synthesisers were also being included as part of the upgrade, with the latter allowing them the opportunity to replace the arboretum area with a full fledged bio habitat to give the crew somewhere to relax in. Creating a gate room identical to that currently on the _Valley Forge_ was also an easy task since it just meant remodelling one of the larger cargo bays that were largely superfluous with the addition of matter synthesisers producing the stores they would normally hold. All that was required to accommodate these upgrades were a few extra and some slightly bigger power conduits to carry the immense amounts of energy being channelled towards the new systems. For added good measure they were even replacing the outer armour with a much stronger naquadah-trinium-carbon alloy to make the station that much harder a nut to crack.

It would take time but already the skeletal framework had taken shape as the collected materials were reformed into what was required. The fleet of ships swarming around it would sit completely still for another week, diverting all available power towards completing their task. The Beliskner-class might be highly outdated as far as the Asgard were concerned, but given that they had been mainly employed to sweep away the armies of Goa'uld who dared trespass upon protected worlds using their transporters they were more than suited for this task. In this system the Asgard were creating a masterpiece that would further remind the other races just what they were capable when they put their minds to it. The station would be a symbol of technological might that would be awe and terrify all those who beheld it.

Thor stood watching the construction of the station from the bridge of the _O'Neill_. The design station was impressive even without the addition of the new technology being installed. That the Averians had been able to construct the station in a distant star system was equally impressive. The humans of the universe were certainly a species to keep an eye on.

A beep from the control console indicated an incoming transmission. Turning to the console he brought up the message noting that _Atlantis_ was the sender. Frowning as he read what he displayed, he quickly sent a reply and sent instructions to the rest of the Asgard fleet. Once receipt of the orders was acknowledged he powered his ships hyperdrive and set a course for _Atlantis_.

* * *

**Milky Way – New Lucia**

The planet tentatively being called New Lucia was a great improvement over the previous Lucian home. This new world was very Earth like, one of the many worlds that had supposedly been terra formed by the Goa'uld but in all likelihood was a product of Alteran efforts when they gifted the planet with a stargate. The planet had previously been uninhabited but that had all changed with the arrival of the former members of the old Lucian Alliance. In a flash of light they had found themselves deposited in a huge settlement built by the Asgard. The settlement was very reminiscent of Chulak, consisting of white stone buildings that hid the above average advanced nature of the world.

The numerous settlements scattered around the planet possessed electricity, running hot and cold water and even their own sewage system. Most notable was the fact that each settlement had a tall tower just on the outskirts so that it would not cast a shadow that was distinctly of Asgard design. These watch towers, as the Lucians were calling them, acted as a reminder that were being watched over and that they were being watched. Shortly after arrival the settlers were assigned homes and places to work that suited their skill set so the adults could work while the children would attend schools and the older children could undertake apprenticeships.

The new Lucian Alliance as it would called would want some form of independence as they eventually became more accustomed to their new circumstances and the Asgard had no intention of simply letting them remain under their thumb for their entire lives. Adopting the Jaffa's new currency system the Asgard had initially sold the Jaffa people a large number of resources for use in constructing new ships, armour and weapons and other none military building projects. Ironically the resources had come from recycling the captured Ha'tak and gliders while the captured Al'kesh and Tel'tac were sold whole. Using this currency the Asgard would pay the new Lucian workforce for their labours and allow them to take out set loans, without an interest rate, which would be used to buy food and other material goods as well as pay an interest free mortgage allowing them to eventually even buy their homes. Over time the Lucians would be free from debt and could even start their own enterprises, allowing them to expand beyond the confines of this world. Of course that was entirely possible anyway since the stargate had remained in place and the Lucians were free to leave if they so chose. Most, however, did not since the opportunity being offered to them was simply too good to pass up and leaving the world would mean they would be forced to survive in a galaxy that disliked them with only the clothes on their backs. Not a very welcome prospect. So they stayed on New Lucia and worked to build their fortune. Some more ambitious citizens even banded together to purchase businesses outright from the word go, and even applied for business loans, which did have interest rates, to expand them. It was a sign that progress was being made.

Once more and more people grew used to the situation a government would be formed, allowing for the Lucians to truly stand anew. The new leadership would be charged with negotiating for the Lucian people with other races, expanding their sphere of influence and even gathering a fleet of ships for their people to use. Taxes were of course what would fuel this new governing body. However the fear of the big businesses using their power to fund elections meant that it stated clearly that any business deals the new elected body performed would not be allowed to solely or majorly benefit the elected bodies or their funders personally. To allow such a thing would eventually mean that the businesses would control the government's actions, which was one step down the road to the old Lucian Alliance and renewed tyranny. This was really more of a formality for the early days, to encourage the Lucians that the government should be there to satisfy the needs of all the people and not the lusts for power of a select group.

This world would be guarded but there were no ships in orbit around the planet. With the incredible speeds the Asgard ships were capable of it was unnecessary to keep ships there twenty four hours a day. There was no threat of revolt from any elements of the populace that might not be content with their loss of power, to attack the Asgard watchtowers would be fool hardy at best and suicidal at worse. Not only were the towers equipped with suitable technology to neutralise any hostiles that might enter them but the android bodies of the Asgard were far stronger than any human could even hope to be. If that wasn't enough as a show of force they could always roll out the Titan battlesuit that can only be operated by an Asgard or Vanir as a show of force.

To sooth the wounded pride of the Lucians the Tau'ri would have no claim on this world, nor would they have a presence there. There would not even have ships in the system since it was unnecessary with the Asgard standing guard. Over time that might change as relations between the Lucians and the Tau'ri improved now that the two parties had no reason to fight each other. Besides for now the Tau'ri fleet had a far greater matter to deal with and a majority of the ships were headed for the Pegasus galaxy as a countermeasure to the threat the Zarinites opposed. It was just hoped that the most powerful fleet in the Milky Way would be sufficient force.

* * *

**_Atlantis_ – Briefing Room**

It had taken awhile, in fact it had taken a long while which probably hadn't helped Todd's mood in the slightest, but all the key players in the Pegasus galaxy had finally gathered, having arrived by ship, stargate or even via Midway. Seated around the conference table were Woolsey, Colonel Sheppard, General O'Neill, Todd, Minister Jakose, Sovaer, Thor and Larrin. Sovaer was here because, as he put it, where the Minister went he went. Larrin on the other hand was here because apparently she had heard about the attack on the Wraith, a statement no one was questioning since the Travellers had many ears throughout the galaxy, and knew that the action would be on _Atlantis_. Ironically she hadn't been wrong, the city ship having become the de facto meeting place for the major powers in the last few years.

"Thank you for all coming," said Woolsey before Todd cut him off.

"If we can skip the pleasantries please I would like to get down to business," said the agitated Wraith, shooting a glare at the annoying human.

"Of course," Woolsey stammered. An angry Wraith was still pretty intimidating even if said Wraith could no longer suck the life out of you.

"You all know of the attack upon our world," Todd stated factly. "As I speak the Matriarch is preparing our forces for war against the Zarinites."

"And I'm guessing that you want our forces to assist you," said O'Neill. "Am I right?"

Todd looked at the human, as if sizing him up. "That is right. Now I have a question for you, who are you?"

"Lt General Jack O'Neill," said O'Neill, keeping his tone level. "And to answer the questions you haven't asked yet, I am Colonel Sheppard's boss. I am the one who will approve whether or not we join another war."

"Then I trust you can give me an answer as to whether or not you will be assisting your allies," Todd replied menacingly.

The Wraith are a hive mind society. True each Wraith has as much individuality as a human but each of their minds is linked allowing them to share thoughts and more importantly in this case feelings. Right now the feeling being felt by every Wraith is anger at the attack on their people and the lives lost as a result. Even blocking out the majority of that collective anger still leaves a fair amount when its source is hundreds of thousands of minds. To say that Todd was not in the best of moods right now would be an understatement.

"Look Todd it's not that simple," began Sheppard.

"Yes it is," Todd growled looking around the table. "The Wraith have followed the path you wished for us and changed our destiny to suit you. We chose to give up a part of ourselves that has been with us since our creation so that human lives would not be lost. Now I am asking you to help those you would call allies. Already many Wraith are dead and we feel that loss more strongly than your kind ever could. We ask your help so that we can end this war quickly before more lives are lost. Now will you help us?"

The question hung in the air, with each of the allies around the table hesitant to answer lest they earn another tongue lashing from the slightly unstable Wraith.

"Todd my people appreciate what you have done for us but it really isn't that simple," said Larrin. "We have few ships as it is and none of them are warships. If it comes down to a fight there is little that we can offer you and you know that for a fact."

Todd begrudgingly nodded.

"That is a truth I must admit but the same cannot be said for the rest of you," he said, looking at the more technologically advanced race members around the room.

"Todd," said Woolsey. "I believe there is a saying of my world that sums up our thoughts, the greatest victory is the battle not fought."

"Although I think you'll prefer, war is hell," added Sheppard.

"I've fought in enough battles in my time to know that if you can avoid fighting then you're much better off," said O'Neill. "Hell I'm sure you've fought enough of them too. My people aren't afraid of doing what needs to be done but if we can avoid bloodshed then we will. A war means casualties and that usually goes for both sides. When a war starts people get killed it's as simple as."

"The Asgard have fought enough battles in just recent history alone to know that what they say is true," Thor added.

"And you," Todd demanded of the Averian representatives. "What do you say? It was not that long ago that they attacked you. How many innocent lives were lost back that day? Are you willing to stand back and do nothing?"

Jakose met Todd's angry gaze with an impassive look of his own. "Many lives were lost that day and I would rather they were the only lives lost against the Zarinites."

"The situation is a lot more complicated than it seems," said Sheppard. "If three years ago we found out that a Wraith shipyard, that is producing tougher ships than ever before if your own ship is anything to go by, had been destroyed then odds are one of us would have been behind it. Back then we wouldn't have seen the loss of Wraith life as a bad thing because we didn't know any better and it's only now that we see things differently."

"The Zarinites deliberately isolated themselves from the rest of the galaxy so that they could build up their forces to face your people," said Woolsey. "It is more than likely that they are not privy to the same game changing news as we are. They attacked a military target that they deemed a threat and that is precisely what we would have done."

"We need to find them and we need to all sit around a table and make them realise the bigger picture," said O'Neill. "The Wraith aren't an enemy anymore, they have no need to be an enemy unless someone insists on trying to wipe them out."

"From what we know of Zarin he dedicated his life amongst our people to building a force that could fight the Wraith," explained Jakose. "It was only after his hunger for power and mad plan was revealed that he was cast out but before then he was determined to remove the threat to our people that the Wraith represented. Any society that he had founded would have also been dedicated to that purpose."

"They have been preparing to fight a war for centuries," said O'Neill. "And now that purpose is suddenly meaningless, and the odds are they don't know that."

"And what if they do know?" asked Todd darkly. "What if they know about the new Wraith and want to exterminate us anyway? What if you tell them the truth and they still think we should be killed to the last child because it is their duty? What then? What will you do?"

"If that is the choice they make," said O'Neill. "If they choose to wipe out a race that only wants to coexist peacefully with the rest of the universe? Then we will defend our allies."

"And the Asgard will stand with their allies the Tau'ri," added Thor.

"Hey we can't do much but the Travellers will do what they can," Larrin chipped in.

"And the Averians will support you all," said Jakose.

"Besides," added Sovaer with a smirk. "If they want you dead they probably won't like us much either."

Everyone chuckled at that. Even Todd managed a smile. The joke had served its purpose, it had helped loosen the tension.

Todd sighed.

"Very well," he said. "I will inform the Matriarch of your decision. A conversation I am not looking forward to."

O'Neill winced sympathetically.

"Well tell her that even though we're not declaring all out war I took the liberty of giving orders to have a very large fleet of ships sent here in case we find reason to use them. The last of them should be here within the week."

"Thank you," said Todd gratefully. "I appreciate that."

"Don't mention it," said O'Neill. "I may not want to see another war start but that doesn't mean I won't make sure we're ready to protect our allies."

"The Averian fleet is always ready for battle," added Jakose. "Should they be needed."

"And the Asgard can have ships sent here at a moments notice," added Thor.

"Again thank you all," said Todd.

"Quit thanking us and go tell your boss," said Sheppard.

"Also," added O'Neill. "You might want to remind want to remind her that as it stands we know little about the enemies military strength or even the location of any of their forces. Whilst we're trying to find them we can also gather information about them, information that we are going to need if we do have to fight a war against them. At the very least peace talks will give us a chance to find out more about them."

Todd smirked. "You are certainly a devious human aren't you?"

"That's why he's my boss," Sheppard replied with a smirk.

"Don't make me promote you to a desk Sheppard," O'Neill replied jokingly. "Now go Todd and tell your mother the good news."

With Sheppard in command of Earths Pegasus forces he arguably should be at least a Brigadier General to hold such a job. Of course as Sheppard had once said himself there are a lot of people who thought he would never make it to Captain, and said people seemed to be pretty high up the food chain in the air force. What Sheppard didn't know was that if any of them ever thought of mentioning that Sheppard shouldn't have such an important position O'Neill would respond by saying that he could always promote Sheppard to make things easier on the chain of command. Naturally they tended to then change the subject pretty quickly.

Todd inclined his head slightly then straightened and walked out the room.

"Well I have a few Admirals to brief so I think I will be getting back to Averia now," said Jakose. "Gentlemen."

With that he also left the room, with Sovaer in tow.

"Thor it looks like we have a change of plans," said O'Neill.

"Mister Woolsey also thought so," said Thor. "I take it you do not want the station to be moved to the void once it is completed?"

O'Neill shook his head. "No it looks like we're going to need to use it as a base of operations in this galaxy should things not turn out as we hope. For now I'd like to leave it where it is, once it's completed of course."

"The majority of the superstructure is already complete," explained Thor. "If I accelerate the construction schedule then I believe I can have the base completed by the time your fleet arrives."

"The Pegasus and Night Fury elements will be here in three days and the rest of the fleet in six. Can you really have the station ready by then?" O'Neill asked sceptically.

"If I have pre fabricated parts brought in instead of manufacturing them on site then yes it should definitely be possible," Thor assured him.

"Damn you guys are good."

"I appreciate the compliment O'Neill."

* * *

"They always try to do the right thing don't they," said Morgan.

"We all try to do the right thing," said Janus. "The problem is that what we think is the right thing may not be."

"Actions have consequences," said Oma.

"Something we all know very well by now I hope," said Morgan, receiving a glare from the other two in return.

"If it weren't for my actions then the Atlantis expedition would have all died and the universe would be far worse off because of it," argued an irritated Janus. "I regret nothing about what I did."

"I'm sorry ok," said Morgan apologetically.

"You went against the other rules yourself," Oma pointed out.

"Yes I did, because it was the right thing to do," said Morgan adamantly.

"Just as it was to help preserve the city and just as it is to assist good people ascend," said Oma. "We all have regrets and we will have to live with them for the rest of our lives but the point is we learn from them."

"You were originally against Merlin and took steps accordingly," said Janus. "Over time though you realised that he was trying to do the right thing and kept him alive so that he knowledge could one day be utilised. Now the Ori are gone and their worshippers freed."

"I get the point," said Morgan. "Now what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" asked Janus innocently.

"You know exactly what I mean," said Morgan. "What are we going to do about this new enemy?"

"The others will not allow us to interfere," said Oma. "The rules forbid it."

"Yet they let us carry on doing whatever we want," argued Janus. "They don't object to us helping people ascend do they."

"You know it is more complicated than that," said Oma. "We cannot change what is already done, we cannot use our powers to affect the lower plains."

"But if people ascend and then retake human form that's okay?" asked Morgan sceptically.

"Daniel made his choice, and the only reason he did so the second time was because he wasn't willing to just stand by and watch the universe go to hell when he had the power to change it," argued Oma.

"Besides the others won't let me help him again," she continued in a calmer voice. "He was the only one who actually voluntarily retook human form. Not even the people of Abydos did that."

"What happened to them anyway?" asked Janus. "You never see them around."

"They're their own little community, off in their own little corner," said Oma. "The others didn't really like them that much so they went to find their own place. They may have actually retaken human form for all I know, the others wouldn't allow me to find out."

"You did a good thing," said Janus. "So don't beat yourself up about it."

"You know why the others won't interfere though right?" asked Morgan.

Janus nodded. "They're afraid. Afraid of what they might become if they do interfere whenever they feel like it."

"They don't want to be like the Ori," said Oma.

"What does a powerful being fear more?" mused Morgan. "That they will be feared because of their power or that they will feared because of how they use it?"

"They don't want to turn out like the Ori so they'll just stand back and watch the universe go to hell as a result," said Janus disgustedly. "It's pathetic."

"Who are we to decide how the story should go," said Oma. "We have the power to sweep away an army if we so choose but that doesn't mean we should."

"It doesn't mean we should just do nothing though," argued Morgan.

"Here here," added Janus.

"You're right," said Oma. "But for now we do not know enough to act. We shall have to wait and see what happens. The allied races have a plan and it is a good one. For now we will just have to hope all goes well."

"And if it doesn't?" asked Janus.

Oma remained silent. She didn't have an answer to that, yet.

* * *

**I know what some of you are thinking that peace is dull and no one is challenging the allies. Just bear with for the next couple of chapters and i will not disapoint, things are going to get very interesting.**

**Please review. Thoughts, suggestions, questions, all are welcome. **


	32. The Greatest Victory

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: You are very good at reading between the lines my friend and have a remarkable amount of foresight. Still it keeps me on my toes because if i can surprise you then i think i can surprise anyone.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: Dang, now i want to include a scene in a volcano. Bear with my loyal reader, bear with.**

**Hydroplatypus: Hey it takes time to get to a big war, expecially when there are another two going on in two different galaxies. Just be patient.**

**jackpotdante: You won't have to wait long.**

* * *

**_Arima_ – Bridge**

"I send you to our allies banging the war drum and instead of soldiers answering the call to arms you come back with an olive branch?" Echidna yelled in disbelief.

Todd could only cringe at his mother, and Matriarch's, anger fuelled tirade. The bridge was completely empty except for the two of them, and his father's holographic avatar. No one wanted to be in her way right now, she was furious enough as it was and it didn't help that she was exhausted from a lack of sleep since the attack. She claimed she had too much to do and could not waste time on sleep.

He had tried to explain the situation but that hadn't done anything to appeal to her, not with the anger she currently possessed at the loss of so many Wraith lives. He could understand her anger, her connection to the Wraith hive mind was the strongest of any of them. She had felt the candles of their lives be snuffed out in an instant of terror and panic and she wanted blood in return. But their allies had a point. They knew next to nothing about their enemy's strengths, weaknesses, if they had any, or even where they were. They needed to find them and find out about them and loath as he was to admit it talking would buy them time to find out this information. If they could at least know where to go to talk to them then at least they would have a vague idea of where to look to find them.

"I am sorry Matriarch," said Todd apologetically. "But we cannot force our allies to fight a war they don't want to."

"We have a mutual defence treaty!" Echidna spat, before returning to pacing in front of the control chair, muttering under her breath.

"And they have assured me they will defend our worlds," Todd argued. "The Tau'ri have already dispatched a large fleet of ships to this galaxy for that purpose. The first wave of ships should be here in three days with the rest in a week."

"How many ships?" she asked irritably.

"I am not certain of the exact numbers but I understand the Tau'ri have been building ships in great numbers for the past two years," Todd explained. "General O'Neill assured me it was a very large fleet of ships which means we can expect great numbers."

"But no assurances of just how large a fleet it is," Echidna stated, not asked.

"No but Tau'ri ships are very powerful given their small size," argued Todd. "Even a few of their ships are capable of inflicting great damage on a sizeable fleet of our own vessels."

"What of the others?" Echidna asked this time, her anger having faded slightly.

"The Averians and Asgard will honour their treaties with us," Todd assured her. "The Travellers have even offered what assistance they can in the coming days."

"The Travellers are not a threat to anyone," Echidna spat. "Least of all the enemy we face."

"That is true Matriarch," Todd admitted. "But they do have an extensive web of contacts within the galaxy and they are experienced in operating under the radar as the Tau'ri would say. They may provide information that will prove vital in the coming days."

"What we need are warriors to fight this battle alongside us," Echidna stated factly. "I want the Zarinites to pay for their crimes against our people."

"As do I," agreed Todd. "But we need to find them first."

"Then find them!" yelled Echidna coming to face her son.

"Echidna," warned Typhoeus. "Calm down."

Echidna visibly reacted to the soothing influence of her loves voice.

"Sit down and take a breath," he said gently while sending calming sensations over the mental link the two shared.

Echidna obediently sat on the control chair allowing Typhoeus to link with her through the chairs interface system. Slowly he strengthened the connection between them, allowing his greater pool of calm to wash over her.

"It's alright my love," he said. "Our allies are with us. They will help us find them and then they will apologise for their actions and swear to never attack us again."

Echidna's eyes lowered as she finally succumbed to her exhaustion and felt the embrace of sleep begin to take hold.

"But what if they do not," she murmured drowsily. "What then?"

"Then they will feel our wrath," Typhoeus whispered, waving Todd out of the room. "And our allies will stand beside us as the fires of justice rain down upon them."

"Rest now my love," he whispered as she gently drifted off to his words.

Once he was confident Echidna was soundly asleep he searched the ship for Todd, knowing that no craft had left the ships hangers. It didn't take long to find him in one of the terminal interface rooms.

"Hard at work my son?" he asked, appearing in holographic form.

"Just waiting for a message from the Tau'ri father," said Todd, not looking up from the console. "I want to know how many ships they are sending so that I can give mother some good news. How is she?"

Typhoeus sighed. "She's resting for now, and if I have anything to say about it she'll stay that way for a good many hours to come."

He noticed the expression of guilt on Todd's face and added, "It's not your fault Todd. You know what she is like. She cares about all of her people, perhaps too much."

"I should have given her news that would make her happy," Todd said guiltily. "She gave me a task to accomplish and I failed to see it through."

"And then what?" asked Typhoeus doubtfully. "She would have placed even more of a burden on herself and would still be in that state. No what you gave her was the best news possible. Our allies are right, we need information and we need the time that diplomacy will give us to get that information. At the very least we can focus on preparing our defences in case of another attack and our allies will be by our side should it come. Oh and incidentally I moved that message to the security vault given the sensitive nature of the information it contains."

Todd actually looked up from the screen. "You read it then?"

Typhoeus shook his head. "No it's encrypted and I haven't decrypted it yet."

"Then how…oh," said Todd as realisation dawned. After all, his father was the ship. "You read the message I sent before I encrypted it for transmission."

Typhoeus smiled. "Your mother isn't the only who can multi task. Now why don't we take a look at that message?"

Todd turned back to the terminal and accessed the data vault, quickly finding the file he sought. Accessing it he decrypted the file allowing both him and Typhoeus to read the message.

Todd had requested the exact numbers of the fleet the Tau'ri would be sending to this galaxy. They had kindly sent him the information he requested via a heavily encrypted subspace data burst.

"What do you know about the 305 Achilles and 307 Night Fury classes?" Typhoeus asked.

"I believe the Achilles-class is a more heavily armed version of one of their battlecruisers," said Todd staring at the holographic screen. "The other is a type of destroyer so most likely function as escorts to their larger craft much in the same way our own cruisers do."

"If it's a Tau'ri design though then they will most likely be suitably well armed as well," reasoned Typhoeus.

"I agree," said Todd. "They certainly seem to prefer quality when it comes to their ships."

"24 306's and 96 307's to arrive in three days, with 28 304's and 56 305's arriving to support them in a week," said Typhoeus. "That is certainly a much larger number than they have utilised in the past in this galaxy from what you have told me."

"What's impressive is that they were able to build such a large number in such a short period of time," said Todd, clearly impressed by the fleet numbers.

"They did not have such a large fleet back?" Typhoeus asked puzzled.

"No," said Todd. "From my time amongst them I was able to learn that they had only a handful of vessels in their possession. It was obvious from the fear I could sense from them when they were facing against a ZPM powered hive ship. If they had these ships back then they would not have needed to resort to using _Atlantis_ against it."

"They must have a large industrial capability to build such a fleet in just two years," reasoned Typhoeus.

"That and some very powerful technology at their disposal," added Todd.

"You were certainly right to ally yourself with them," said Typhoeus.

"It is a good thing I did," admitted Todd. "If they had turned this might against us the Wraith would have been exterminated before long."

"I can't help but agree. The humans are far more skilled at war than my people were."

"They have had a lot of experience over the years from what I understand."

"They fight to protect what they care for," said Typhoeus. "The fact that they are so good at it means that they care a lot about what they want to protect."

Todd chuckled. "Humans, anyone even, wanting to protect Wraith, I never thought I'd see that day."

Typhoeus chuckled himself. "And to think we only had to wait ten thousand years for it to happen."

* * *

**Ida Galaxy – New Orilla **

The Asgard city was a sight to behold, the dream of any architect to be able to create and a dream the Asgard had accomplished. A forest of towering spires made of glass and metal that shone under the yellow sun overhead. It had taken years, even with the seemingly miraculous technology of the Asgard but finally the Asgard had been able to reconstruct their home to the glory of its namesake. Built from the ground up the city was, for lack of a better word, perfection in its design. Unlike the cities of Earth that expand from small settlements into colossal cityscapes, that expand for miles in either direction as needs for new areas arise, this city had been designed to meet every need the Asgard would have right from the start. Housing areas, industrial zones, power generation facilities and shipyards, all bases were covered when the plans were drawn up for this monumental construction.

Throughout Ida the Asgard had spent the last two years rebuilding their civilisation to the point they had been at before the replicator threat had emerged, only this time they didn't have to worry about their DNA unravelling at the molecular level. Android bodies meant they could take their time to slowly restore their DNA to what it had once been without exasperating the problem by constantly cloning themselves. Their new forms even allowed them to download their minds into a central data hub in the event their new bodies were damaged or destroyed. The process was not fool proof but with periodic copies of their minds being made before they travelled into battle having been introduced as standard practise during their war with the replicators the risk was greatly minimised. The download technology was actually a process that the Asgard had gained from their Vanir brethren, who had taken extensive measures to preserve their numbers during their time in Pegasus hiding from the Wraith.

The new height their civilisation had reached had even spilled over to their fleet. The ageing Beliskner's that had long been the front line vessel of the Asgard fleet was relegated to a supporting role, having been replaced by the O'Neill-class. The O'Neill-class was a dedicated warship that was capable of delivering more firepower in a single volley than even the Pegasus-class, with the next volley following mere seconds after. The Beliskner-class offered substantially less firepower but was still a very capable ship, the powerful transport array making it perfect for the construction role it now occupied. The abilities of the ship were being well demonstrated in the construction of the new Tau'ri station. With the priority being expanding their combat capabilities though, the O'Neill-class was the favoured ship to be built with their numbers having greatly increased in the past two years beyond the mere twenty they had started off with.

In the Asgard High Council chambers a meeting was occurring to determine the steps the Asgard would take in Pegasus with the re-emergence of the Zarinites on the galactic stage.

"Supreme Commander Thor," said the Asgard known only as the Chief Archon, a role of such importance that by tradition no names were used to denote the Asgard holding the position. "What is your assessment of the situation?"

"From what information we have gathered Archon the Zarinites could offer a sizeable threat to the Pegasus galaxy natives since they utilise technology developed by the Alterans," stated Thor.

"I am given to understand that said technology includes only the most basic of what the Alterans developed in their time," said Penegal.

"That is true," admitted Thor. "While the majority of the Alteran legacy left behind was theoretical work this alone opened the way for much more advanced versions of the technology. The Averians have clearly demonstrated this fact, as have the Zarinites when they were able to force the Averians to withdraw or lose _Hope_."

"It is also important to note that the majority of the Pegasus inhabitants lack the means to defend themselves should the Zarinites continue the doctrine of their name sake," added Freyr.

"The Averian-Tau'ri-Wraith alliance should be capable of dealing with any threat they offer if your reports are anything to go by," asked Archon. "I am given to understand the Tau'ri and Wraith have been building their forces for the past two years and the Averians even longer."

"While I do not doubt the capabilities of the humans or Wraith Archon," said Thor. "I must remind you that we are also a member of that alliance. Also we must take into consideration that the Zarinites have been preparing an army capable of conquering the galaxy for centuries."

"How large an army do you believe them to have?" asked Archon.

"That is currently unknown," admitted Thor. "However it is for that reason that the Tau'ri are adopting their current strategy. With the enemy's size and location unknown the best option they have is to solidify their position and attempt to gather more intelligence."

"What do you expect them to have at a minimum Supreme Commander?" asked Archon.

"If I found myself placed in such a position then I would build a large fleet of ships that utilised upgradable capabilities that could be incorporated as more advanced technologies were developed," said Thor. "Their actual army however is a different matter entirely."

"How so?" asked Penegal.

"The Zarinites utilise genetically engineered soldiers, most likely to multiply their forces beyond the limited population they started off with," said Thor. "Normally a human army is somewhat limited if being developed over centuries because of the limited life span of the race it is composed of. An army of lab grown super soldiers however can be produced both quickly and in large numbers."

"You believe the Zarinites will possess large numbers of these troops," Archon stated, not asked.

Thor nodded. "It is what I would do if I intended to occupy a galaxy and keep control of it."

"Then I assume you think we should deploy our forces to assist those currently in Pegasus," said Archon.

"For now I am not suggesting anything drastic like deploying _Valhalla_," said Thor. "However I feel we should attempt to match what our allies have put forward, say twenty warships."

"The O'Neill-class is powerful, even more so with the new upgrades," said Archon. "To send such a powerful force before war is even openly declared is unprecedented for our people, and I hope that the suggestion of deploying _Valhalla_ was simply a turn of phrase on your part."

"Unprecedented but necessary," said Thor. "Our allies are aware of the forces we most likely have at our disposal, especially given the force the Tau'ri have built in a mere two years. That number is identical to the force we would have used if the Ori were still running rampant about the Milky Way. As for deploying _Valhalla_, that is a talk for later."

The Archon, and in fact everyone else in the room stared at Thor. They knew that the Supreme Commander was a force to be reckoned with but this was something they had not seen in a while, something he had usually saved for the Goa'uld. The replicators were just machines performing the same command directives over and over again, and while they were something to hate they did not invoke the pure anger that the Zarinites seemed to have awoken.

"That number will send a message of our intentions to support our allies," continued Thor. "It will also make clear to the Zarinites the can of worms, as the humans would say, they will be opening if they push for war instead of peace."

"Twenty ships including your flagship Supreme Commander," stated Archon. "And I trust you to make sure that war is not the path of necessity for the Zarinites."

"Thank you Archon," said Thor politely.

* * *

A week can pass quite quickly when you know you know you are going to enjoy it, in this case though the powers of Pegasus were dreading the coming days and so the week that went by was agonisingly long. But pass it did, and surprisingly without further incident, presumably the Zarinite attack had been a pre-emptive strike to weaken the Wraith infrastructure and test their defences. The hit and run nature of the attack against the Wraith shipyard made this seem plausible given that in realistic circumstances the Wraith would not know who had attacked them or the forces they possessed. It also had the added benefit of forcing the Wraith to reveal their forces as they put them to work acting as defences for their worlds. Essentially it had forced the Wraith to reveal their cards while the Zarinites remained shrouded in the shadows but nonetheless in the game.

The new Tau'ri space station was almost completed and would soon be fully loaded with both crew and equipment, thanks to the Asgard. The fleet that the Asgard had sent to support their allies had been carrying the pre-fabricated components needed to finish the station so quickly. Miles and miles of power conduits, weapons, power generators, shield generators, computer cores, the list went on, had been ferried there to finish the job. The Asgard had even temporarily turned over their entire industrial might to producing the defence drones that would fill the stations fighter hangers, the same amount as _Hope_ held in terms of fighters, only doubled. This coincided with the arrival of the combat groups of Tau'ri fleet later that day, giving the fleet somewhere to call home while they were operating in this galaxy. They had even decided on a name for the station _Celestia_, and since the AI was of a different nature to the ISIS variety they would be calling it Celeste.

The Tau'ri themselves had not been idle while waiting for the remainder of their fleet to arrive or their new station to be completed. The fleet of Pegasus-class ships had been busy placing sensor platforms around the Wraith worlds in order to give them an early warning system for when an attack would be imminent. Arguably though this was nothing more than a stop gap since they had no idea how fast the Zarinites ships were. Now it seemed this move was going to pay off as the sensor net revealed the approach of a large fleet of ships heading towards a major Wraith world.

The allies were quick to react to the move and called upon their forces to intercept the fleet as it arrived in the system.

* * *

**Wraith controlled world **

A few years ago this was just another planet that happened to have a small Wraith presence, now it was so much more. The world had grown from a single small outpost to a thriving colony home to thousands of Wraith and a pillar of their industry. Here ships were grown, crops were harvested and wild animals hunted. Across the surface of this world were towering spires of stark white bone and web like domes of bio matter. This world was what a symbol of the new incarnation of the Wraith Empire and it was this way they intended it to stay. To this end the Wraith had a sizeable fleet sitting in orbit around the planet. Ten upgraded hive ships, thirty upgraded cruisers and five carrier ships were standing by to defend the world from any attack. As part of the treaty between their worlds the Averians had also deployed ships to the planet after the first attack and ten of their warships were sitting amongst the Wraith defence fleet. In response to the Tau'ri warning though a new addition to the defence fleet was sitting around the planet, the _Arima_ and her now thirty sentinels.

Across from space a single massive hyperspace window tore open and deposited a fleet of arrow shaped ships. The ships were identical to those that had attacked the Wraith shipyard a week ago, except for one ship that was much larger than the others and was most likely fulfilling the role of the fleet's flagship. Including the flagship there were a hundred ships as part of the fleet and they were all descending upon this world and the fleet that guarded it.

If this turned into a shooting match then it could arguably go either way. Both fleets were quite powerful and with the capabilities of the other side unclear to either neither could confidently say they had the advantage. The situation could effectively be described as a powder keg, one spark and things would end up going down hill real fast.

The Zarinite fleet inched closer and closer to the combined Wraith and Averian forces. Both sides had their shields powered and their weapons ready to fire at a moments notice, but they were both waiting for the other to make the first move and present an opportunity that could be exploited. If the Zarinite fleet continued to move forwards though then they would be too close to miss and that would undoubtedly be the absent spark.

That situation was made unlikely to occur with the forming of forty five hyperspace windows in the gulf between the two fleets, causing the Zarinites to slam on the breaks as they found themselves facing the broadsides of a strange fleet of ships, some of which were even deploying smaller ships from a hanger on their underbelly. It was no surprise that the Zarinites suddenly paused in their charge towards the Wraith controlled world, they suddenly found themselves facing down every warship the Asgard and Tau'ri had in the galaxy. A total of 20 O'Neill-class, 25 Pegasus-class and 96 Night Fury-class vessels were sitting between the two fleets, shields powered and weapons ready, but showing favour to neither side. It seemed that were trying to make a point with their presence here. The initial impressions mostly consisted of surprise and shock. Not surprising considering the Tau'ri escorts alone numbered nearly the same as the Zarinites own warships.

On an open subspace channel for all to hear came a clear calm voice.

"This is Colonel John Sheppard of the _Weir _speaking on behalf the Tau'ri and Asgard fleet. Why don't we all take things easy and try and talk about this before someone gets killed?"

In response came a transmission from the flagships of both fleets. Representing the Wraith was Echidna, while the Zarinites were represented by a young man with close cropped brown hair and piercing dark eyes.

"What do you imagine there is to talk about?" he asked, his expression boring into the camera.

"Well first of all the fact that there is no need for fighting anymore," insisted Sheppard.

"The Wraith still live, do they not?" stated the Zarinite. "Some would say that was more than enough of a reason to fight."

"If it is a fight you want then a fight you shall get," snarled Echidna. "You shall pay for the death of my children."

"Your children," said the Zarinite, slightly amused. "Am I to believe that you are the mother to these demon spawn?"

"I am Echidna," she growled. "I am Matriarch to all Wraith. Who are you to attack my progeny?"

"I am Etere Zarin of the Zarasian Empire," he spat back. "And I will oppose all those that would offer my people harm. Your kind would feed on humans for nourishment and for that you will be exterminated."

"And that's enough of that," said Sheppard in a raised voice. "Now that the introductions have been made let's continue where we left off, the Wraith are no longer a threat to your people or anyone else."

"What madness is this," Zarin scoffed. "The Wraith feed on humans, how can they not be a threat? What deluded thinking makes you believe they would do you no harm?"

"The Wraith no longer feed on humans," Sheppard stated calmly.

Zarin snorted. "Preposterous."

Sheppard sighed. "Show him Echidna."

Echidna slowly raised her open hands for Zarin to see. They were completely unmarked and lacking the feeding slit.

Zarin frowned. "This is a trick."

"It is no trick," said Echidna. "My kind no longer feeds on humans. We now consume food the same as you do."

"How is this possible?" asked Zarin, stunned at what he was being shown.

"Our scientists were able to develop a way to remove the Wraiths need to feed," explained Sheppard. "We reactivated their repressed digestive system and they can now eat regular food."

Zarin rubbed his eyes.

"If what you say is true, then this changes everything," he admitted still rubbing his eyes. "My people would not need to go to war."

"I do not want any more of my people to die," stated Echidna. "I am willing to see it end here."

"Peace is possible," added Sheppard.

Zarin groaned and held his head in hands. "I need time to think about this but it would certainly seem so. Yes, peace would be best for all our peoples."

Zarin signalled and the transmission was severed.

"Well that went well," said Sheppard. "It looks like we can end the fighting here."

"So it would seem," said Echidna before she cut the link.

* * *

"To peace," said Janus.

"To peace," chorused Oma and Morgan.

* * *

**Yes i know what you are thinking. Trust me and read _all_ of the next chapter, you will not be disappointed. Please review.**


	33. The Battle Not Fought

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: I think i will surprise you with the way this chapter is going to go. Be prepared to be shocked and amazed by the time you reach the end.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: You may believe so but not everyone does apparently. Time to find out who's right.**

**Hydroplatypus: Maybe, maybe not, you'll just have to read and find out.**

**the brown cow: Sentinels are 1500 metre long escorts in the shape of super sized cruisers.**

******s-david-m: You'll see.**

******Andriabow: Who knows, oh wait me. Read on and you shall find out.**

**WarshipWar: A good story needs balance between action and intrigue, be it political or otherwise. The reality is that people will try to avoid war if it is possible and it is something the Tau'ri have tried to avoid if they can. Peace will always be the first option, but that doesn't mean circumstances will allow it to happen. I would be happy to discuss this with you further so i invite you to create an account so we can message each other.**

**Scourge75: The galaxy isn't in the state where there is a need for constant action just yet. As i have said before peace is the prefered option but not necesarily the one that gets settled for. Your right, they aren't that good, they can't simply talk a race into submission which is why they remind people of the power they wield to make people realize that peace is the better option.**

* * *

**_Arima_ – Bridge**

"Do you think this is really possible?" asked Echidna.

"Honestly?" asked Sheppard, in holographic form.

Echidna nodded. "Honestly."

"The way I see it this is the same situation we found ourselves in when we encountered the Averians," said Sheppard. "They hate what the Wraith used to be but if it saves lives then they were willing to try to make it work."

"Nobody wants to go to war if they don't have to," said Echidna, sinking back into her chair.

"Not if it saves the lives of their people," agreed Sheppard.

"If we use the same briefing you gave to the Averians then I think it should convince them," said Todd.

"If it isn't broke don't fix it, as you humans say," said Typhoeus.

"Now we just need to hear their reply," said Sheppard.

"It helps to have their leader present in the field," said Typhoeus.

The others looked at him.

"I used to be an Alteran remember," he said with a grin. "Etere, it means Eternal. Add that to name Zarin and it looks like we have the leader of the Zarasian Empire in our midst."

"An imperial monarchy led by a family whose founder thought it was their right to rule over the galaxy," said Sheppard. "I wonder how far the apple falls from the tree."

"And what does that mean?" asked Echidna irritably.

Sheppard winced. The Matriarch was clearly under a lot of stress and slightly obscure cultural references were not something that was going to help her mood.

"Sorry," he said apologetically. "Basically it means that the descendent may not be like the ancestor."

"In other words he may not be a power hungry genocidal maniac," said Echidna dryly.

"We can only hope," said Typhoeus, placing a comforting hand on Echidna's arm which she felt through the mental link.

"The news we gave them seems to have certainly lit a fire under them," said Sheppard. "We've detected plenty of chatter between their ships, and a lot coming from their flagship going out into space."

"Hopefully they aren't calling for reinforcements," said Echidna.

"Don't worry our deep space sensors show no other ships heading our way," Sheppard assured her.

"Ah for small mercy's," muttered Echidna.

"If they try anything mother with our allies at our side we will be able to easily deal with them," said Todd.

"Our fleet isn't going anywhere for the time being," added Sheppard. "And the Zarasian fleet is showing no signs of going anywhere. For now we just have to wait."

"When will the rest of your ships arrive?" asked Todd.

"They should be at _Celestia_ pretty soon but they are still several hours from here," said Sheppard. "We figured something like this might happen though which is why the 306 fleet went on ahead. If it comes down to it they have plenty of firepower to deal with the enemy out their without their escorts. Add the Asgard fleet to that and I doubt the Zarasians will try anything."

A name had finally been decided on for the new Tau'ri space station _Celestia_, while the AI would be called Celeste.

"Please thank the Asgard for their presence here for me," requested Echidna.

"Thor said you might say that," said Sheppard with a grin. "He said to say the Asgard are your allies."

"Nonetheless it is appreciated," Echidna assured him. "I don't trust the Zarasians intentions."

"The Averians are also just as concerned mother," said Todd. "They do not place much faith in the idea that the Zarasians have changed from the ideals of their founder."

"That's why we are here," said Sheppard. "The Tau'ri and the Asgard are going to act as mediators in this dispute, assuming a meeting even takes place."

"A dispute," said Echidna dryly. "That's one way to describe this situation I suppose."

"Minister Jakose should be arriving soon," said Sheppard, ignoring the last comment.

"Let us hope the talks proceed then," said Echidna. "Otherwise he will have had a wasted trip."

* * *

On the surface the planets stargate activated and a sleek looking craft shot out of the shimmering event horizon, drive pods extending from the sides. The craft was the Averians version of a puddle jumper and with its smooth lines and pointed nose the craft was reminiscent of a British Javelin train, hence the nickname Javelin the Tau'ri had gifted it. Gracefully the craft rose through the atmosphere and into the icy depths of space. Quickly traversing the distance the Javelin soon found itself amongst the gathered fleet of Wraith and Averian ships standing guard over the world. Heading to the designated Averian flagship the craft came to rest in the ships hanger. Once she had landed the rear hatch lowered and Jakose and Sovaer exited.

Walking through the ship the two slowly made their way to the command bridge.

"Not even a welcoming party to greet us," noted Sovaer.

"I told the commander to remain on the bridge," said Jakose. "If something happens they will need him there."

"Well well old friend, you have certainly picked up a few tricks," said Sovaer, impressed at his friend's military thinking.

"A need of necessity in these troubled times," noted Jakose.

"Yes," admitted Sovaer. "You know I still don't like this. I don't trust those people."

"I know old friend but if they are willing to talk then so am I."

"I still don't like it," said Sovaer doubtfully. "They already attacked us once. Who is to say they won't do it again."

"They will not attack us now," Jakose assured him. "Not with our allies at our side. Once we sit down and talk about this then there will be no more need for fighting."

"So what are we going to do if they choose not to talk?" asked Sovaer sceptically. "We're just assuming they will. We're hoping we can just sit around a table and peacefully talk about everything that has happened and come to an agreement."

"Sometimes all we can is have faith that people will see reason," said Jakose. "We have to hope that they wish as much for no bloodshed as we do."

"It's not safe," Sovaer stated adamantly.

"That is why you are with me," Jakose pointed out. "Hopefully though you won't need to put your upgrades to use."

"They'll regret if they do," said Sovaer, with a predatory gleam in his eye. "Of that I will make certain."

Jakose smiled. "Well I hope it doesn't come down to that, for their sake."

* * *

**_Weir_ – Bridge **

An hour had passed and still nothing from the Zarasians.

"Colonel Sheppard," said Zarin. "I have news for you."

"Good news I hope," said Sheppard lightly.

Zarin smiled. "Indeed. On behalf of my people I wish to propose we meet for peace talks we do not wish for war."

"I am very glad to hear that," said Sheppard. "Where should we do this?"

"A neutral location I think," said Zarin. "There is an uninhabited planet not far from here that can be reached by stargate. I'm sending you the location."

"You'll understand if we wish to send our fleet there to check it out," said Sheppard in what he hoped was a reasonable tone of voice.

"Of course," said Zarin. "I will be redeploying my own fleet there so that we are out of Wraith territory."

"We'll see you there then," said Sheppard.

The transmission cut out, and it seemed like peace was but a talk away.

* * *

_**Celestia**_

With their work done the Asgard fleet departed, the station was finally complete. All the work that the Asgard had put into it in the past week, working night and day, had culminated in this finished technological marvel. Now that it was complete crewmen were pouring into the station to provide the crew necessary to allow it to operate at maximum efficiency. The station had originally been slated to be the Midway replacement and as such all the new crew were to arrive through the stargate the station was supposed to be equipped with. This meant that a different approach was needed to send the new crew across.

The solution was actually quite simple. The station still had the gate room, minus the stargates, and the transport receiver for that gate room. By shunting additional power into the device transmitting to that receiver, a lot of additional power, they could transport someone from the mining world command complex to the station.

The first of the crewman to arrive were the command crew and engineers, all of whom wore space suits based off the Vanir versions since the power had yet to be turned on. They slowly made their way through the station, grateful for the fact that the doors weren't sealed and in the case of the engineers a little annoyed that they would have to slog it through most of the station on foot. Eventually though the engineers arrived at engineering and began to bring the generators online. The secondary naquadah generators were the first ones to come online, they needed them online to provide power to the monitoring stations before they brought the primary neutrino-ion generators online. With those providing a minimum amount of power to the station the command crew could finally get some lights on in the control room.

With minimum power available to them the command crew started to bring online the main computer core while the engineering team brought online the primary generators. As the full power of the primary generators became available the first signs of life of the station became apparent as the running lights of the station lit up along the outer hull. Throughout the corridors of the station a wave of light stretched out as power flooded through the corridors bringing the metallic hulk to life. From the open windows of the station more lights joined those along the hull. In minutes the station went from being a lifeless hulk to a throbbing beating heart of raw power.

With power being sent to every corner of the station they could finally bring the lone Pegasus stargate online. The reason they hadn't done so before, or arrived using it, was because with power offline throughout the entire station there was no artificial gravity, a fact that was bound to cause problems if they had attempted it. Now that all systems were go they could use the gate to bring the rest of the stations crewmen onboard. Slowly the procession of people, and their luggage, made their way through from _Valley Forge_ to their new home.

* * *

The world below was a rather barren rock that was, nevertheless, hospitable to human life even to this day and as such had been gifted with a stargate so many years ago. The world was like the rest of the system, bare and mostly uninteresting. One distinctive feature about this system however was the large ion cloud around the planet that played merry hell with sensors whenever you tried to scan it. It seemed the cloud had such a high magnetic field that even the most powerful sensors were ineffective. Ironically since the cloud did not completely cover the planet so there was a sizeable gap to allow for a scan of the barren world below.

The fleet of ships sitting in orbit around the planet could easily scan the entire world with their powerful sensors. The combined fleet of Asgard and Tau'ri warships sat patiently waiting for the Zarasian fleet to catch them up. Even though they were still travelling through hyperspace the Zarasians were being constantly monitored to make sure they didn't deviate from the agreed location. So far they had remained true to their word.

It wasn't long before the fleet emerged from hyperspace on the far side of the ion cloud. Slowly they passed through it, each one momentarily vanishing from sensors like a phantom only to reappear again as they emerged from the electrical cloud. Eventually the entire fleet was sitting in orbit around the planet across from the Tau'ri and Asgard fleet. Arriving shortly after came the Wraith and Averian flagships. The _Arima_ and her sentinels fell into formation with their allies, while the lone Averian warship slipped out of a cavity within the Wraith flagship that was usually reserved solely for sentinels.

Having already been in the system for some time now the Tau'ri and Asgard had had plenty of opportunity to set up a meeting place on the planets surface. Given that they didn't want to have to spend too much time on this planet and they only needed somewhere they could sit and talk a large tent had been erected near the stargate to keep out the wind. The tent had been decked out with a large circular conference table and chairs, since nothing more was deemed necessary.

From the gathered ships a small group of shuttle like craft began to descend into the atmosphere and gently came to rest around the tent. One Wraith transport, one Averian Javelin and a predatory looking shuttle, not unlike a much smaller version of the transport shuttle used by the Tau'ri, from the Zarasian Empire landed on the ground. The Tau'ri delegates, Richard Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard, were already present, as was the Asgard representative Thor.

From the transport craft emerged the representatives of their respective races, Jakose and Sovaer from the Averians, Echidna from the Wraith and Zarin from the Zarasians.

Standing guard around the tent were a dozen marines of the Tau'ri, each one of them clad in tempest battle armour and gripping an assault rifle. They were there as a message to the Zarasians that even at this stage treachery would not be tolerated. As a sign of trust though an honour guard belonging to the Wraith and the Zarasians were also present, but they would not be allowed near the tent for obvious reasons. The two former Wraith drones and two genetically engineered soldiers of the Zarasians stood opposite each other. The Wraith drones stared at the other warriors, remembering a time when they had not been much different, before they had been gifted with their mental freedom. In the case of the cyborg troopers however there was not even a flicker of emotion on their faces, they stared forward coldly, waiting for further instructions. The only lone ranger amongst the gathered guards was Sovaer, who had opted to stand away from both parties. He was staring intently at the closed tent entrance, his gaze never wavering.

Once everyone was seated around the table and introductions had been made the peace talks could finally begin.

"So," said Zarin lightly, keeping his features neutral. "I believe you have an interesting tale you wish to tell."

"Interesting is certainly one way of looking at it," said Sheppard. "But I think the term you are actually thinking of is unbelievable."

"Yes," admitted Zarin. "It is rather unbelievable I must confess. However I think you will have more to show me than a little cosmetic alteration on a single Wraith queen."

"I am not a queen," said Echidna sternly. "I am a Matriarch. I rule over all Wraith in existence, not just a few on a single hive."

"My apologies," said Zarin sincerely. "I meant no disrespect."

"Just don't test my patience," Echidna warned him.

"Of course," said Zarin calmly.

"Now as I was about to say we do have more evidence," said Woolsey, tapping on the tablet in front of him. "This is a recording of our first meeting with the Matriarch."

Projected from the dome like disc in the centre of the table a two dimensional image appeared and began to play the first meeting they had had with Echidna. As the recording played Zarin could only stare at the projection with rapt attention.

"That's was the condensed version of the Wraiths history," explained Woolsey, when the recording paused.

"How did you come to control the entire Wraith collective?" Zarin asked Echidna. "The _Arima_?"

"Retaking the _Arima_ was an important step," explained Echidna. "But the gift the Tau'ri gave me was the most vital."

"How exactly?" asked Zarin, curious.

"Watch and see," said Echidna, nodding to Woolsey.

The image switched to show Echidna receiving the treatment that removed her ability to feed on humans and restored her ability to eat regular food.

"They changed you so easily?" asked Zarin, surprised.

"They have the technology," said Thor.

The image changed once again to show the _Arima_ recovery operation, where Echidna offered her children an ultimatum and the Tau'ri displayed the power they had at their disposal. Just as they had when they had been viewed by the Averians the recordings both showed that the Tau'ri backed Echidna and her cured children and also gave a small glimpse to the technology they had available to them.

"So it was as simple as that?" asked Zarin sceptically. "Somehow I find it hard to believe that the Wraith would just fall into line and give up being the dominant power in the galaxy."

"Not all agreed to the terms I gave them," said Echidna, her expression a mixture of emotions as she spoke. "Those that did not were dealt with."

"All of them?" asked Zarin. "There must have been many like those two that would have preferred to remain in power."

Echidna had only one response to that. "Show him."

This time the image showed not a complete picture, but an image seen from multiple angles. This was the battle against the traitor twins where the last Wraith resistance against the new order had been annihilated. The images had been collected from the recordings made by the _Weir_, the _O'Neill_ and even some of the Averian warships. As the recordings went on Zarin saw as the entire armada that was the twins fleet was steadily overcome and destroyed through a combination of sneak attacks, ambushes and overwhelming brute force. Eventually, as the last of the enemy ships were destroyed, the recordings combined again into a single image. This image showed how the twins had attempted to escape only to be found and captured by Echidna with the assistance of the Asgard.

"So the threat is gone," concluded Zarin.

He looked at the Asgard. "I presume the warship seen in those recordings was one of yours?"

Thor nodded.

"I thought as much," said Zarin. "An impressive vessel you have there, very impressive."

"Thank you," said Thor politely.

"That was definitely the last of them?" asked Zarin. "My people have nothing to fear from the Wraith?"

"The last of the rebel forces have been eliminated," said Sheppard.

"In their arrogance my daughters ensured their own downfall," added Echidna.

"Then I am glad to hear that," said Zarin. "And I am sorry for attacking your people. I deeply regret the loss of life that incurred as a result and I assure you that had I known what I know now I would not have authorised the attack.

Echidna nodded begrudgingly.

"However" Zarin continued. "I believe there is still another matter that needs to be discussed."

He looked across the table at Jakose, who had been staring at the Zarasian the entire time. The expression on Jakose's face was a mixture of calm, coldness and a hint of dislike. Now for the first time he chose to speak.

"I assume you mean the attack by your people on mine," said Jakose coldly.

Everyone knew this was going to be a turning point in the talks. They had gotten past the first hurdle, and the attack on the Wraith was arguably understandable if admittedly regrettable. However the attack on Hope was not something that could just be written off as an unfortunate mistake.

"Yes, I am sorry," said Zarin.

"You are sorry," said Jakose, his tone still icy.

"Yes," repeated Zarin. "Unfortunately I was given the wrong information at the time and the attack was deemed necessary."

"And what information did you receive that necessitated the deaths of my people?" asked Jakose in a dangerously low voice.

"It came to my attention that you had allied yourself with the Wraith," Zarin snapped back. "It seems I can say with some certainty now that it wasn't wrong."

There was silence after that last outburst. For a moment everyone thought the two of them were going to leap across the table and attack each other. Before that could happen though Jakose dropped his head into his hands and let out a long sigh.

"That alliance," Jakose said slowly. "Was for the purpose of eliminating the traitor twins, as people call them, and it was the Matriarch."

"As I said before," said Zarin, having lost the brunt of his anger. "I was not aware that the Wraith had been cured of their hunger at the time. I'm…sorry."

Jakose glared at him. "You have been saying that a lot lately."

"What else can I say?" Zarin asked angrily. "I cannot change what has been done."

"You can say that it will never happen again," said Jakose coldly. "You can say that you will never again lash out blindly on innocents. You can say that you are not the same as your ancestor."

Zarin nodded. "It will never happen again. I am not my ancestor Minister I am something new. At the time what he thought was foolish and short sighted, and I do not think the same way as he did. I want what is best for my people Minister and I am willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure that future."

Jakose nodded grimly. "My people will not be so ready to trust yours after all that has happened."

"Indeed," said Zarin. "Perhaps…"

He trailed off as a distant rumble became audible, just on the edge of hearing.

"What is that?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Sheppard as he rose from his seat. "But I'm going to find out."

He tapped his ear piece. "_Weir_, what's happening up there?"

"Colonel, six unidentified objects just appeared out of the ion cloud and have descended into the atmosphere. Sir…they're heading your way."

Sheppard ran out of the tent, with the others quickly following and looked up at the sky to see six burning shapes plummeting towards them. It was hard to tell from the rather steep angle they were descending at but it did appear that the objects, whatever they were, were slowing down. As they came closer and their speed dropped significantly the shape of the objects became more apparent. They appeared to be large metallic pods with spiked prongs emerging from their sides. Finally the objects hit the ground, still travelling at break neck speeds, landing in a hexagonal formation around the tent and the assembled transport craft.

The shockwave caused by their landing was enough to knock the feet out from under everyone and the dust wave thrown up temporarily blinded them as it billowed over them.

With a series of groans people slowly rose to their feet.

"What the hell?" asked Sheppard.

"Good question," muttered Sovaer, slowly looking around.

His eyes widened.

"Incoming hostiles," he yelled, pulling out a plasma pistol.

His warning was rendered rather moot when a hail of green energy bolts tore into the tent and the ground around them.

From out of the dust came a wave of troops clad in dark leather and wearing black helmets that completely hid their faces. Not a single piece of skin was exposed to the open air.

"_Weir_, emergency beam out," Sheppard yelled over the sounds of the fire fight now taking place.

"…strong…magnetic…from…can't…a lock…" came the garbled reply.

"Damn it," Sheppard swore. Those pods must have been blocking their transporters, as well as screwing up communications.

"We need to fall back to the transports," Sheppard yelled, as he opened fire with his side arm at the nearest hostile.

"Small problem with that," Sovaer yelled back.

He was right, they were surrounded, and right now the majority of the enemy troops were on either side of the transports. So far they were holding them off, with the tempest clad marines giving much more than were taking.

"I'm going to try to push through," Zarin yelled, running forwards with his honour guard before anyone could stop him.

Jakose looked at Sovaer before nodding and the pair set off after them.

The rest were quick to follow, seeing no other option at this point. With the Zarasians and Averians leading the charge by a good distance the group moved forwards towards the transports, cutting down the opposition as they went.

For a while it seemed like they were making progress, advancing closer and closer to the transports. Then out of nowhere a group of enemy soldiers appeared from around the sides of the middle transport and counter charged. Caught unawares Zarin's guard were quickly cut down by the hail of firepower. Turning instinctively to face the threat Sovaer was struck by a charging enemy in his blindside. Winded and knocked to the ground Sovaer struggled to shake off his heavy opponent as he realised in horror that his principle was being dragged away by another one of the brutes.

Seeing the enemy soldiers hastily retreating with Jakose in their arms Zarin sprinted after them wielding a plasma pistol. He made it about ten feet away before he took a hit to the leg that knocked him to the ground. In a fit of rage Sovaer rolled himself and his opponent over and drew out his knife, proceeding to stab the enemy in the throat. Not even bothering to pick up his pistol he ran after the retreating figures that had by now ran almost all the way to the nearest pod.

The rest of the group were busy trying to keep their group together, get to the transports and collect Zarin. After Jakose had been snatched the rest of the enemy had moved to form a wall between them and him, and it was working. They were completely cut off from them and they were desperately dragging Zarin to his transport, which ironically happened to be the closest. Luckily the pilots were all still present in their respective craft, the only problem was they could only batten down the hatches until the passengers arrived else they would allow the enemy access to them.

The soldiers dragging a beaten and bruised Jakose had just about reached the pod but Sovaer was sprinting as fast as he could go to reach them before that happened. Just as they made it between the support legs he caught up with them, diving into the group as rings emerged from the pods underbelly to swallow them up. In a flash of light the group was gone, and the pods engines powered up. Thrusters in the legs forced the prongs out of the ground and before anyone even realised it the pod had lifted away from the planet.

At some unspoken signal the rest of the enemy soldiers turned and ran to their pods. The members of the peace talk were in no mood to chase after them, they had wounded to take care of and the priority was to get their people to safety. As they were dragging their wounded into the transports the last of the pods took off from the surface. As for the soldiers that had been killed or otherwise incapacitated, they were consumed by fire as self destruct devices activated by remote leaving no remains to recover.

The pods quickly rose from the surface, into the upper atmosphere and out into space again. At Sheppard's warning that there were captives in one of those pods the amassed fleet did not open fire on them, instead they attempted to surround them. But the nimble craft headed straight towards the Zarasian fleet, confident in their ability to evade the bulky vessels, and they were right. Nimbly they slipped around the large craft forcing them to give chase. When they entered the ion cloud though they disappeared from sensors and strangely failed to reappear on the other side the combined fleet took position around the cloud to surround them, and yet there was no sign of movement. Suddenly sensors detected a sudden pulse of energy from within the ion cloud and a piece in the middle suddenly vanished from sensors. There was only one discernable conclusion that they could make, a ship had jumped into hyperspace and the gap had been caused by the hyperspace window opening. The lack of detection could be a sign that the ship was cloaked. Even if this wasn't the case the pods were definitely not in the cloud which meant Jakose and Sovaer were gone.

Shaken by this sudden change of events the gathered ships went their separate ways, uncertain as to what to do next. The injured had been returned to their respective vessels so it seemed like there was nothing more to do, for now. The peace talks certainly couldn't continue, not with the leader of a world MIA.

* * *

**_Celestia_ - One hour later**

In the gate room the stargate activated. This didn't surprise the gate room crew that much since it was probably another batch of supplies from _Valley Forge_. What they were not expecting was the large metallic orb that soared out of the event horizon and eventually halted in the middle of room. If anyone were standing near it they would be able to hear a low hum as the device powered up and a blue field shimmered around it. Suddenly the field expanded on all sides like a wave of energy, stretching out to strike the gate technicians and continuing on. On contact with the wave the technicians collapsed, the wave having rendered them unconscious.

From the still active stargate soldiers poured out of the event horizon like a flood. Each of them looked almost identical to the other, dressed in dark leathers and black helmets and carrying energy rifles.

* * *

**Go on admit it, you thought it was going to be easy for them. Please Review.**


	34. Under Siege

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Incredibly advanced technology and everything going your way is a catalyst for complacency. One of your ideas is correct, then again you covered all bases so thats probably not too surprising for you.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: You see i told you if you read on you wouldn't be disapointed. **

**the brown cow: Tempest battle armour was covered in the time skip chapter so i suggest you go back and re-read it. The first time i introduced the Arima i gave its length being 15km.**

******s-david-m: If it came to it they could beam the stargate into space and it and may have been necessary to use it at some point. **

**Scourge75: They got complacent, overconfident and just generally relaxed. Besides after the umpteenth supply delivery from Midway people get tired of constantly disengaging the stargate. Boredom made them vulnerable. As for the rest, read on good sir read on.**

**romanhellhound: Or is it an old one rearing its head again? Read on and find out.**

* * *

_**Celestia**_

The station was brand new and still in the process of having crewmen and supplies arrive, as such they had been taken completely by surprise when the stun bomb had come rolling through the gate. Now there seemed to be a full battalion of soldiers pouring through the gate intent on taking the station.

Like a flood they poured out of the gate room and through the corridors of the station. Every time they encountered an unconscious crew member they were bound using plastic ties to save them from having to drag the unfortunate victim of the stun wave with them. The stun wave had not had the ability to traverse more than a kilometre from the device due to the limitations of the power that could be put into a single burst however this still meant that the majority of the top part of the station had been affected by the wave. Since the current inhabitants of the station were still in the process of moving in this meant that the majority of the crewmen were in that area and had been affected by it. Luckily for them the people in the control room however had not been, since that area had been on the outskirts of the diminishing strength wave and had additional shielding to protect it. However since none of the life signs had disappeared no alerts had appeared to draw their attention to the catastrophic situation developing. Unaware of the danger approaching closer to them the control staff went on with their duties while the invaders penetrated deeper into the station.

Eventually it got to the point where the invaders encountered resistance, in the form of personnel that had not been inside the effective range of the stun bomb. The response of the invaders when they encountered conscious crewmen was to render them unconscious or immobile by whatever means they deemed necessary. Crewman who had the misfortune of encountering the invaders were either stunned or beaten into submission before they were also bound and their positions noted. With the limited security presence onboard though most of the people encountered were the unfortunate civilian personnel and those with military training were unarmed.

So far the situation seemed to be going entirely the invaders way, until of course one lucky individual had the good sense to run like hell when he turned a corner and saw the retreating forms of a group of the invading soldiers. Noting the heavily armed and hostile aura they were giving off his flight instinct kicked in very quickly. Once he felt he had put sufficient distance between him and the hostile forces he immediately put in a call to the control room.

Colonel Telford, the new commander of _Celestia_, was in the control room, sipping a cup of coffee in his office, at the time when the call came in. With a certain amount of mistrust still hanging around him after he had been brainwashed by the Lucian Alliance he had been denied command of a ship and had instead been given the slightly duller job of commanding the newest Tau'ri space station. The fact that it was this particular station rather than a Midway II variant was a sign that he wasn't being blamed for what happened. It helped that he had been willing to spend his time sitting in a chair on the chance that _Destiny_ would make contact over the stones.

"Control room, this is Doctor Parker. Colonel Telford please come in," came the panicked voice over the comm."

Telford put down his coffee and pushed down a button on the console in front of him.

"Doctor Parker, this Colonel Telford in the control room. What can I do for you?"

"Colonel," came the shaky response. "There are armed soldiers on this station. I think we're under attack."

"What's your location? Where are the hostiles?" asked Telford, immediately switching into soldier mode.

"I was heading to engineering, I turned a corner and there they were. I…I ran for it before they could see me. I don't know where they are now."

"You did the right thing Doctor," Telford reassured him. "Keep your head down and we'll send help."

Closing the channel Telford walked out of his office and into the control room. The control room was a sizeable room, filled with numerous consoles and a large display screen on one wall. In the centre of the room was a holographic projection table like those the Pegasus class were equipped with.

"Listen up people," Telford said as he walked into the room, causing the people manning consoles to look up. "I just got a report that there are hostiles near engineering. I want to know what we're dealing with and how the hell they got on this station. Check cameras and internal sensors."

The technicians manning the control room immediately set to work. Cycling through sub systems they searched for any signs that might indicate how the intruders had managed to breach their defences without anyone in the control room realising. Sensor feeds showed activity in the station but nothing beyond normal movements. Switching to visual feeds around engineering where the intruders had been spotted several groups were noted moving around that were not friendly's, however there presence seemed limited to a few squads. It wasn't until the personnel count was checked against the current life sign count that it became apparent just how dire the situation was. There were nearly a thousand life signs more than what they should have on the station. That number was steadily rising.

"Damn it!" Telford swore. "Find out where they are coming from. Celeste."

"Yes Colonel," said the station AI, appearing in holographic form beside him.

"Status of station personnel," Telford ordered.

"All listed station personnel are alive and accounted Colonel," said the AI. "I feel I should remind you Colonel that if that had changed you would have been immediately notified."

Telford frowned. "Celeste, confirm that the life signs count on this station is increasing."

"I can confirm."

"Where are the new life signs appearing from?"

"New life signs are originating from the stargate."

Telford glanced at Jones, one of the technicians, who nodded back to him.

"Putting it on screen now sir," he said.

The holographic display screen lit up to show the gate room with its still active stargate. Soldiers were still marching out of the event horizon, armed and carrying crates of equipment.

"Celeste, check the sensor records for any unidentified energy readings and compare that with the time frame the life signs started increasing. I want to know how they got control of the gate room."

"Sensor records show an energy burst originating from the gate room precisely thirty seconds before additional life signs started appearing," said Celeste.

"Sir," said Chen, one of the female technicians. "I found something."

"Show me."

The image on the screen changed to show both the gate room control centre and the stargate. The stargate activated and a large metallic ball rolled out of the event horizon. The ball emitted a pulse wave of energy that spread throughout the room. On the screen showing the control centre the wave hit the technicians there and they immediately collapsed unconscious. Thirty seconds later and the enemy soldiers stated to pour out of the still active stargate, spreading out into the room and eventually outwards. It wasn't long before they appeared on the camera in the control centre.

"How far did that pulse get?" asked Telford.

"Sensors indicate a two kilometre radius sir," said Perkins.

"Why weren't we affected by it?" asked Telford, knowing they were within the blast radius.

"The control centre possesses shielding to prevent such effects," stated Celeste.

Telford took a deep breath and momentarily paused to think.

"Celeste, activate our emergency beacon and close off that stargate now," Telford ordered before addressing the rest of the control team. "The rest of, I need you searching for our people. Find anyone of ours and tell them to get armed and get ready. Check outside the burst area and expand the search from there. You're their eyes, help them avoid the enemy and find each other."

"Unable to activate shield or iris Colonel," said Celeste. "Sensors indicate that that the emergency beacon is active but the signal is not broadcasting past the station."

They must be jamming us, Telford realised. "Why can't you raise the shield or close the iris?"

"Overrides have been initiated from the gate room control centre," explained Celeste. "Remote access to gate room systems has been disconnected. The hard lines have been cut."

"See what systems you still have access to," ordered Telford. "I want to know what options we have for a lockdown for a lockdown. Now what have the rest of you got for me? I need options people."

"Sir," said Perkins. "The subcutaneous transmitters all personnel are given are still broadcasting and we can detect their signal. If we correlate them with the life signs readings we should be able to distinguish between our people and the enemy soldiers."

"And if we know who's who we can beam them out," added Jones.

"Do it," ordered Telford.

"On it sir," said Perkins and Jones, immediately setting to work.

"Sir, we have a problem," said Jones. "Whatever is blocking our subspace communications must be affecting our targeting scanners as well. I can't establish a beam lock on anyone on this station.

"Any good news?" Telford asked.

"I've managed to overlay the life sign and transmitter readings," said Perkins. "Sensors are now distinguishing between hostiles and our people."

"Well that's something. Celeste, what have you come up with?" asked Telford.

"Colonel," said Celeste. "Using the sensor modifications I have managed to determine the depth of the incursion, which I am calling the red zone. I have sealed all bulkhead doors within the red zone and also engaged force fields and locked down, however I believe they will eventually breach those barriers. I have also sealed and locked down the armouries within the red zone and these should hold much longer than the internal doors. Engineering, the control room, the main computer core and any other vital areas have also been locked down to protect them. Internal transporters are also locked down and unpowered."

"Can you use the new sensor updates to determine the difference between when our people are attempting to use a door and one of the enemies?" asked Telford.

"I can," confirmed Celeste.

"Then I want you to lockdown all sections of the station," ordered Telford. "Give our people free roam of the station but deny them access to any area containing hostile forces."

"Confirmed Colonel," said Celeste. "Initiating station wide lockdown procedures."

"Also lock down computer core access," said Telford. "I don't want them hijacking any of our core systems or taking you offline."

"Confirmed," said Celeste. "Access to core computer core outside of engineering and the control rooms is denied."

"Now what have the rest of you come up with?" asked Telford.

"We've managed to locate a number of our personnel still conscious and moving around," said Jones. "They're currently moving to meet up with each other and are heading to the armouries."

"Only a few dozen of them have any military training though sir," added Perkins. "The majority of them are civilians and even then there aren't many."

"At this point it doesn't matter," said Telford. "Get them all geared up and tell them to issue stun weapons to the civilians then get them somewhere safe for now. They should at least be able to defend themselves."

"On it sir."

"Sir I think I have a way to send out a distress flare," said Chen.

"I'm all ears," said Telford, grateful for some good news.

"We still have access to control systems for the recon drones sir," said Chen. "If we pre-program one of them on a set flight path and then order it to transmit an automated message then hopefully it should be picked up on the mining world. However there is no guarantee it'll work since we don't know the range of the jamming field."

"Try and program it to land on the roof of their control centre," suggested Telford. "If that doesn't get their attention then nothing will."

"On it sir," said Chen. "Bird is away."

"Celeste," said Telford. "Can you vent the atmosphere of the sealed sections containing hostiles?"

"I can," confirmed Celeste. "However I must inform you that these sections contain our own personnel and venting the atmosphere would kill them to."

Telford sighed. "It was worth asking. What about the gate room? Shouldn't that be empty of our personnel?"

"It is Colonel," said Celeste. "However they have already breached the doors leading from the gate room to other sections of the station that do contain our personnel."

Telford nodded solemnly. "Keep trying to break through the overrides on the gate room control."

"Sir," said Perkins. "The first group have reached the armoury and are gearing up."

"Tell them to stand by to receive instructions," ordered Telford.

"Lockdown protocols are holding for now Colonel," added Celeste. "I am unable to break through the overrides as of yet but I can cut the power if necessary. That will not however prevent them from dialling in."

"We'll save that card for when we can best use it," said Telford.

Throughout the station, in the past few minutes, bulkhead doors had slammed shut, armoury blast doors had been sealed shut as dead bolts locked into place and heavy doors to vital areas had automatically closed while force fields engaged. For the first time the invading forces found their movement impaired as they were forced to beat down the force fields and pry open doors. Meanwhile the station natives found their movement unhampered as the doors automatically opened for them as they approached. Moving under the direction of the all seeing eyes of the people in the control room they hurried down the corridors and gathered together. When they finally reached the armouries those with military training kitted out in tempest battle armour and grabbed whatever lethal weapons were available, while the civilians picked up Wraith stunners.

In space a lone recon drone was travelling at full pelt towards the mining world in the distance. As soon as it had exited the hanger bay it had started transmitting a pre-programmed distress message. Hopefully it would be heard by friendly ears. If not out of the conscious personnel still moving around on the station there were only a few dozen personnel with any military training, and only enough battle armour for them to use with the limited supply, compared to the hundred plus civilians.

Right now though all that they could do was gear up and hope.

* * *

**Zarasian flagship**

The _Doom Bringer_, this fifteen hundred metre dreadnought was the flagship of the Zarasian fleet as well as the personal ship of Etere Zarin. It was easily the most powerful ship in the Zarasian armada and was more than capable of dispatching a hive ship in short order.

On the bridge sat Zarin, master of all he surveyed.

"Status," he demanded.

"We have received confirmation Etere. We have a sizeable foothold on the station but have encountered some resistance."

Zarin grinned menacingly. "Excellent."

* * *

**One hour ago**

Jakose awoke from his pain induced stupor with a groan, a groan that echoed by others in the room. The last thing he remembered was running for his life before something had struck. Judging from the lack of willing movement on the part of his body he had probably been hit by a stun blast. Opening his eyes he realised he was slumped against a cold metallic wall that matched the rest of the room, it seemed like he was on a ship of some sort. On the other side of the room he saw his loyal bodyguard and friend Sovaer fighting with the two men who had captured him in the first place. There was another two lying bloody and beaten on the floor. As blow after blow was received and delivered Sovaer showed no signs of backing down but neither did his opponents. Neither one of them was holding anything back, delivering excruciating blows to his midriff while Sovaer blocked the rest. Any chance that Sovaer had of winning though was extinguished when another four of the brutes walked in to the room and pinned him to the wall. One of them held a medical injection gun which promptly got stabbed into Sovaer's neck despite his frantic struggles. As the liquid flowed into his system Sovaer's entire body went limp as the drug started to take effect.

"Well well he certainly put up a fight didn't he," said a frighteningly familiar voice from the doorway.

Jakose turned his head in horror to see Zarin walking up to him, carefully stepping over the two bodies of what were presumably his men. Zarin knelt down in front of him with a small grin of triumph on his face.

"Now tell me," he said. "Of the people you thought would be behind this I bet you never imagined it would turn out to be me."

"Zarin," Jakose spat wearily. "What have you done?"

Zarin looked at him thoughtfully.

"Oh don't worry," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Your loyal bodyguard is quite alright. That was just a muscle relaxer to stop him from acting inappropriately. He's actually still conscious."

Zarin smirked at him. "But you know I suspect you meant something different."

"Why are you here?" Jakose managed.

Zarin gave him a look of puzzlement. "Why am I here? Where else would you expect me to be? This is after all my ship."

"Why am I on your ship?" asked Jakose angrily, still unable to get up.

"These men, well those men, brought you here." he said pointing to two of the six soldiers still standing.

"Oh don't be so angry," he said, seeing the death glare Jakose was giving him. "After all I got injured trying to prevent your capture."

"You don't look injured," said Jakose doubtfully.

Zarin let out a low chuckle. "Yes well, I can heal quickly when the need arises. Now let's get you off of that floor."

He signalled to two of the masked soldiers who moved forward and hauled Jakose to his feet.

"Come on lets go," said Zarin calmly, as if this was a just a normal day and they were going for a walk.

The brutes dragged Jakose and Sovaer out of the room. The two dragging Sovaer though did not follow Zarin though and instead went the other way.

"Oh don't worry," said Zarin lightly, seeing the look of concern on his face. "They're just taking him to a cell and will be relieving him of any toys he might have. I didn't really expect him to be here to be honest. I was hoping for more valuable captives than him. Still I suppose you alone will have to do."

They continued through the drab corridors of the ship until finally they reached a large heavy set door. Zarin placed his hand on a panel set into the wall and with a slight rumble pistons turned and the door unlocked and slid open. Without a word Jakose found himself being dragged into the room.

Looking around he took in the strange sights. Immediately he was hit by the smell, the cleanliness the room reeked of, it reminded him of a hospital. The walls were lined with pods filled with liquid, some were empty but others had things growing in them. Strange shapes connected to a tube that led into the roof of the pods. As they advanced deeper into the room the things in the pods became larger and began to take a recognisable shape, two arms, two legs and a head. They were humanoid, yes but their green skin left him doubting that they were human. Then as they neared the end of the long line of pods he saw creatures that were nearly fully grown and immediately recognised them for what they were, they were the hybrid soldiers the Zarasian people had created to fight their battles.

"They're called reapers," said Zarin conversationally. "Each one created to further my cause. Perfectly loyal and obedient, stronger and faster than any regular soldier they are the perfect weapon and I have an army of them at my command."

"You know," he continued. "I must admit it wasn't easy arranging for this to come about with such little time to prepare, but over my many years I've learned to adapt to difficult circumstances. You cannot deny this has gone rather well. Well for me anyway."

They had reached the end of the room, set into the bulkhead were a row of empty stasis pods but one of which contained the time ravaged form of one of the reapers. The row of pods was broken in the middle though by a large half circle door protruding from the bulkhead.

"Ah yes this one," said Zarin seeing Jakose gaze linger on the occupied pod. "He was the one who wounded me. Unfortunately he failed to carry out his instructions properly and shot me in the leg instead of the arm, where I wasn't wearing as much armour. No matter though, he has paid the price and has helped heal my wounds."

"Why am I here?" asked Jakose, tired of these games.

Zarin gave him a sideways glance. "Ah yes, I suppose I should let you know. You are here to provide me with information."

Jakose snorted. "Good luck with getting anything out of me. Unlike your ancestor I have no intention of betraying my people."

Zarin chuckled. "Ah yes my 'ancestor', how you insist on going on about him. You really do know so little. Ah well perhaps in time you will grow out of that naivety…well provided you live that long."

He walked up to the door and placed his hand on the panel. With a hiss of escaping gas the door split and mist poured out through the crack. Sliding in their grooves the doors opened and as the mist cleared the being inside was revealed. Manacled to a chair, with numerous tubes from all manner of machines attached to her body and hair as black as pitch, was a Wraith queen.

Zarin walked up the captive Wraith and leaned over her chair. "Hello again little one, it's time again for you to work."

"Bring him forward," he ordered stepping away from the captive Wraith.

The reapers forced Jakose to his knees in front of the chair and Zarin pressed a button on a nearby console. The eyes of the Wraith sprang open as though a charge had run through her body and judging by the wires and tubes trailing into her body it probably had.

"Question time," said Zarin, pressing another button.

Before Jakose could even react to the sentence her hand shot forwards and clamped over his chest.

"Oh don't look so afraid," said Zarin. "She won't be feeding on you. The hold on your life just means she has a better grip on your mind. Now on to business."

He leaned over and spoke softly into the Wraiths ear.

"Where is _Hope_?"

The Wraiths eyes widened, as did those of Jakose as he felt the mind of the Wraith delve its way into his own. Then her eyes fluttered like the wings on an insect as she entered a trance and started to speak.

"Hope. _Hope_. _Hope_ station. Last chance to survive if all else is lost. Almost lost. Attacked. Moved."

"Moved where?" pressed Zarin.

"Far from where it once was," she rasped. "In the gap between stars. Space. Deep space. Stay there. Safer. Help from friends. Gift. Has stargate now."

"Wonderful," muttered Zarin. "What else?"

"Station safe. Cannot be found by you now. Station strong. Station our pride."

"The stargate," Zarin said, slightly irritated.

"Stargate gift from friends. Friends good to us. We good to friends. Trade with them. They like _Hope_. We give them plans in trade. They build station. Station strong. Stronger than _Hope_."

Zarin looked up sharply, staring at Jakose who stared right back.

"Where is this station?" he asked in a low voice.

"Location unknown. Classified. Hidden. Do not know."

"What does he know about the station?"

"Station strong. Station powerful. Upgraded. Has stargate. Station new. May not yet be ready. May be vulnerable."

"Is the gate address known?"

"Yes. Address seen. Remembered. Known. May not work. Gate may not be online yet."

Zarin smirked. "Good enough."

He pressed the same button again causing the Wraith to withdraw her hand. With the connection severed Jakose immediately started gasping for breath.

"Thank you Minister," said Zarin gratefully. "You have been most helpful."

He tapped another button and the eyes of the Wraith fluttered closed. Up close like this and with his mind finally clear Jakose could clearly see the Wraiths face and he was surprised how much she looked like Echidna.

"Now then," said Zarin, turning back to him. "You can go to your own cell. Oh and in case you were wondering you won't be anywhere near your friend."

"Take him," he ordered, and the two reapers grabbed Jakose and dragged him from the room.

As soon as Jakose was out of the room and being dragged to his own personal cell Zarin set about issuing orders.

"This is Zarin," he said into the subspace com. "Ready a reaper gate insurgency force for a capture and control operation with location to follow. And I want a list of all additional forces ready for gate deployment immediately."

* * *

**Present**

In a storage cupboard, for even a warship had such things, there were two reapers slumped against the back wall. When they were finally discovered, and their bodies examined, their cause of death would quickly become apparent. They had had their throats slit by a very thin and very sharp blade. When they were identified by their production numbers it would be noted that they had been the two that had captured the Averian prisoners. But it would then be realised that they were also the two Zarin had ordered take the one known as Sovaer to a holding cell. What no one had realised so far, most likely because he wasn't even supposed to be on the ship, was that he hadn't made it there.

* * *

**My dear readers, you didn't think it would always go the Tau'ri way did you? Please Review.**


	35. Jail Break

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: It seems to be paying off for him so far though so as far as Zarin is concerned its beneficial. My Telford hasn't yet crossed as many lines as yours has and is on unofficial probation, so killing the majority of the people under his command wouldn't be good for his future.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: This is where the begins.**

**Nerdrage61: Glad you're enjoying it. Cliffhangers are my favourite thing to end a chapter on.**

******s-david-m: I thought of that as well don't worry, the possibility still exists. The only downside to that approach is that if you want to then go in you'll be exposed to the same low oxygen atmosphere. **

**Scourge75: You have to ask yourself, is Zarin really twisted enough to do that? Wait and see.**

**romanhellhound: Glad you like it. Enjoy the next chapter.**

**jobe457: Your welcome. I hope you do decide to leave more reviews in the future.**

**Sciencefictionsquirrel: In the long run the Zarasians are going to be looking at hell, as it stands though they're having it all their own way.**

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_ – One hour ago**

The two reapers dragged the limp form of Sovaer down the corridor like the Averian was a rag doll. Confident in the potency of the muscle relaxer he had been sedated with they carried him between them, one of his arms slung across their shoulders. They weren't expecting him to be any trouble even if he was conscious and taking in his surroundings. Occasionally they would pass another group of reapers or even the odd ordinary human, going about their duties. The prisoner would give them a wary look but otherwise would do nothing, not that he could do anything. It wasn't until they found themselves alone in a stretch of corridor without the sound of approaching footsteps ringing along the decking that Sovaer twitched.

But what started as a simple twitch of the arms quickly changed into a sudden, and for the reapers very surprising, controlled movement. Sovaer's hands balled into fists and curled around the reapers necks, the middle joints of his fingers brushing against their skin as he then dragged his hands back along their necks. As his hands came away and he stood stably on his feet the two reapers fell, a long gash having appeared across their necks. What they hadn't realised, and had ultimately been their undoing was two simple things. The first was that the muscle relaxer had had no effect on him. The sedative having been designed to work on a subject with an organic musculature, something Sovaer no longer possessed. And the second being that seemingly innocent twitch earlier had in fact been caused by two wafer thin blades sliding out between the knuckles of his middle and index fingers.

Silently the two blades retracted back into his hands, his artificial skin springing together around the hole, leaving nothing but a small scar to mark their presence. The Vanir may not been able to give him bone claws like he originally requested but blades with an atomic edge hidden in his hands were a wonderful alternative.

Wasting no time he quickly dragged the corpses of the two reapers to a nearby storage cupboard and left them there. He couldn't dispose of the bodies but he could make it so that it would take a while to find them. As an after thought he sabotaged the wiring of the control panel so that the door wouldn't open. At the very least that should buy him a bit more time until the bodies were discovered.

Luckily for him his captors had not thought to check through his pockets right away, if they had he would lack his toys as Zarin had called them. Pulling out a small syringe he injected himself with a radioactive isotope, another prototype of the Vanir, which would hopefully render him invisible to the ships internal sensors. If it didn't seem to be working then he always had a second vile to double the dose as a last resort, although hopefully he wouldn't need to and he could save it to give to Jakose. Of course that required finding him first.

Moving as quietly as he could he started to make his way through the ship. Relying only on his senses to detect anyone approaching, he carefully made his way to an empty room with a computer terminal. Tampering with the door controls to prevent them from being opened from the outside he brought the computer online. He stared at the computer coding written in ancient being displayed in front of him. He knew he lacked the necessary skill to bypass the computer systems by hand however he did have another option. The only problem was that it would mean he would lack the means to defend himself while he was searching through the computer core. He had a decision to make, although really it was no decision at all because he knew what he had to do.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a miniaturised distress beacon. The thing was powerful and had an impressive range for its size but achieving long ranges was only possible for a short period before the power cell ran dry. Of course there was always the chance that it would be detected by the people on this ship. So in order to cover that issue he pulled away a vent cover and dropped the active beacon inside. He was rewarded by a series of metallic clangs as the beacon bounced through the vent system before eventually coming to rest. Hopefully no one would think to find out where that noise had originated from, and if they did…well its not like he had plans for this evening anyway and at least the beacon would be a bitch to fish out of the vents.

Figuring he may as well make himself comfortable, because he had no idea how long this would take, he settled down on the floor in front of the console. Reaching into another one of his pockets he pulled out a long cable with what appeared to be a metallic spike on one end and a control crystal adapter on the other. He placed the control crystal adapter into a slot on the control console. Now for the tricky part. Brushing his hand through his hair he located a bump on his scalp before closing his eyes. Flattening down his hair he took a calming breath and inserted the spike into the hole. He gasped as the only slightly familiar tingling sensation hit him and he felt a jolt run through his body.

He opened his eyes and found himself not in the room but looking at a sea of flowing yellow computer code. This was a place he had only been recently become associated with. Cyberspace, the electronic information realm, the world inside the machine there were many names for this place but so few races had so far been able to immerse themselves in it and certainly none who were organic in nature. The Vanir had first opened the doors to this world to Sovaer and now he was stepping through on his own.

Operating in this world was different to what he was normally used to. It was much more thought and a lot less action. The brain operates on electrical signals and is capable of interpreting them as many different things. A computer works in much the same way so it is often said that the brain is an organic computer. Navigating the computer core of the flagship was done more by thought than by motion. Sensing the trails of coding flowing in front of him, identifying them for what they were. Sections of the computer core were separated by barriers, firewalls that prevented him from accessing different systems and secure databases. Right now he was in the basic access section of the computer core. Non-critical systems and open access data were all that lay here. One system he did have access to though was the internal security cameras. In front of him projections of the images the cameras saw appeared including the room where he was sitting in a meditative state. He kept that one open for later. Flickering through the numerous images being displayed at a speed too fast for a human to comprehend when seen outside this state he finally found what he was he was after, the room containing Jakose.

Immersing himself in the data stream he watched as his friend was interrogated by a Wraith queen of all things that bore a resemblance to the Matriarch Echidna. He knew that while his friend was in that lab he could never reach him in time to stop Zarin from getting the answers he required. So while his friend was being questioned he worked on tracing a path from here to the lab, using the different security cameras as a series of relay points. Unfortunately by the time he found out how to get there they were already dragging his friend away. This would make things more complicated.

Concentrating he brought up a map showing the locations of the security cameras he had bounced along to reach the lab. It gave him far from a complete map, more of a path of light in a web of dark tunnels, but it served its purpose. Now he would need to find a way to intercept them or reach the brig without being detected. Figuring that breaking Jakose out of the brig would draw less attention he followed them using the camera feeds until they reached the brig. If they thought his friend was sitting safely in his cell then they wouldn't need as much security for him or would wonder why they hadn't had confirmation he had arrived. A man you sent on a mission is far more likely to be noticed as missing when he doesn't report in than a guard you believe is where he should be. Comparing the trail they were taking with the map he was updating on the fly he noticed that they were following the same path he would have taken to head to the lab up to a point, then they suddenly diverged and took a different path. They must be taking him to a different brig to keep the two of them separated.

Through the security feeds he watched as they took him to the brig and dumped his friend behind a force field in a cell. Mapping out the route he would take and committing it to memory he closed his eyes and disconnected himself from the computer. Opening his eyes he found himself back in the room he had started off in. Getting up he took a moment to stretch his slightly stiff muscles, realising that the deck plating really hadn't been that comfortable to sit on. Once his muscles had loosened again he disconnected the interface cable from his skull and the console before tucking it safely away in the inner pocket from which it had come. He powered down the computer before setting off to the brig where his friend was being kept, leaving no trace of his presence in the room.

Slowly he made his way through the corridors of the ship, following the route he had mapped out in cyberspace. A few times he was unfortunate enough to encounter a patrol of reapers marching along the corridors, but there heavy footsteps meant their approach was easy to detect. Each time he hid from them and waited for them to pass before emerging from a hiding place and heading on his way, seeing their large backs as they went on their way. It was interesting to note that sometimes there was a human amongst them but they were a rare appearance. There didn't seem to be many humans on this ship, which wasn't really surprising considering the small population the Zarasians had started off with all those years ago. Presumably they were serving as the officers of the ship while the reapers made up the majority of the crew numbers. Eventually he reached the brig of the ship. From his time interfaced with the system he knew that there was only one guard present, which suited his plans just fine.

With a hiss the door to the brig slid open, causing the guard inside to turn around. When no one entered through the door or even appeared in front of the doorway the reaper got suspicious and decided to investigate. As the guard stepped towards the doorway Sovaer's hand shot out from around the door frame and pulled the reaper off of his feet. As the reaper started to tip forwards Sovaer's other hand came round and grabbed him by the back of the neck, helping the reaper along on its trip to the deck plating. With a thought the blade inside that same hand flicked out and he plunged the trinium blade an inch into the back of the reapers exposed neck. With the reaper now permanently out of commission he dragged the carcass back into the brig and shut the door.

Looking up he was met with the smirking face of Jakose, who was standing by the force field of his cell.

"Thanks for stopping by," said Jakose.

"Well I happened to be on the ship so I thought I might as well," said Sovaer as he started to work on the cell force field controls. "How you are you feeling? Your head must hurt after being interrogated by a Wraith."

Jakose frowned. "How do you know about that?"

"I got into the computer and used the internal security feeds to keep an eye on you," Sovaer explained as he finally brought down the force field.

"How long have you been free?" asked Jakose, stepping out of the cell. "That muscle relaxer must have worn off quickly."

"Actually it didn't even take effect," said Sovaer as he set about dragging the reaper into the same cell. "It doesn't seem to work on synthetic muscles and that's all I have these days."

"Ah, that makes sense," said Jakose. "But I really have to ask, why are putting that reaper in a cell?"

"So that the life signs sensors will show that there is still a prisoner in the cells," said Sovaer as he re-activated the force field.

"Surely that won't work because the reaper happens to be dead," Jakose pointed out.

"Actually he's alive," said Sovaer, casually leaning against the wall.

"You stabbed him in the neck," argued Jakose adamantly. "Usually when you of all people stab someone in the neck it tends to kill them."

"I only severed his spinal cord," Sovaer pointed out. "I'm not sure if it was between the fifth or sixth vertebrate though. It's difficult to tell when you're not entirely familiar with these…things."

"So he's alive but paralyzed from the neck down," Jakose summarized.

"Yep," said Sovaer, moving to the door. "Now let's get moving."

Jakose shivered slightly as he glanced back at the paralyzed reaper, sometimes his friend could be a little scary in his dedication to duty. Still Sovaer's duty was keeping him safe so he really couldn't complain.

Sovaer pulled out a syringe from inside his coat, proceeding to shoot the contents into Jakose arm without a word.

"Follow me, stay close and stay silent," Sovaer ordered.

Jakose knew better than to argue.

Slowly the pair made their way through the corridors of the ship. Jakose couldn't help but notice how tense his friend appeared and felt a pang of guilt. He knew why his friend was feeling this way. It was because of his presence. For his friend this would be tricky certainly but far from impossible, but with him present it made the task much more difficult. He knew he lacked the stealthy nature of his friend or the ability to move without a sound and that was dangerous in a situation like this. Nevertheless they slowly made their way through the ship to the room where Sovaer had previously hidden, not that Jakose knew this.

When they finally arrived Sovaer settled down in front of the computer terminal while Jakose took stock of the room. There wasn't in the way of furniture, a table with a pair of chairs and an empty cupboard in the corner.

"I'm sure you have a good reason," began Jakose. "But why are we here?"

"I knew this room would be empty," answered Sovaer. "It's a good distance from the brig and we need somewhere to wait."

Jakose raised an eyebrow.

"Wait for what?"

"Hopefully for help to arrive," said Sovaer as he pulled the interface cable out of his pocket. "In the mean time that injection I gave you should hide us from sensors so they won't know we're here."

Jakose rubbed the injection point on his arm reflexively. "What was that thing anyway?"

"A radioactive isotope the Vanir developed to hide life signs from sensors," explained Sovaer. "They figured they might need it for use against the Wraith. I wasn't sure if it would work on Zarasian sensors but it seems to be working so far."

"I'm guessing you have a plan," said Jakose. His friend always had a plan, it was his nature.

"I activated my distress beacon," said Sovaer as he plugged the cable into the console. "Hopefully it will last long enough to be picked up by one of our allies. In the mean time I intend to hide here and see what information I can get out of the computer. Right now we know next to nothing about our situation other than the fact we're on the Zarasian flagship, and even then that's an assumption. I intend to rectify that problem and hopefully get some information about our enemy."

"Are you sure you can get past the firewalls they undoubtedly have?" asked Jakose.

Sovaer frowned. "No, but I'm going to poke around the unprotected areas first and see what I can find."

"Just…," Jakose hesitated. "Just be careful Aerin."

He knew his friend had had some experience with cyber walking, as he liked to call it, before but it was still risky. It involved creating a direct link to the brain for crying out loud. Who really knew what the consequences could be if something went wrong, his friend could turn into a vegetable.

Sovaer handed him the other end of the cable before closing his eyes. "Don't worry JJ I will be."

As an after thought Sovaer pulled one his trademark pistols out of its holster and placed it beside him.

Jakose said nothing and simply plugged the cable into his friends head. In an instant Sovaer found himself in cyberspace.

Casting his senses wide he took in the sea of information before him. The first thing he did was to pluck out the data stream for the security camera in the corridor outside the room. The next thing he did was interface with the computer monitor in that room. Concentrating he opened a window on the computer along with the feed from the security camera. In a way that almost telepathic in nature he typed in a message on the window.

"That's the security camera for the corridor outside."

With a thought another three camera feeds appeared, his familiarity with the associated data streams allowing him to easily pluck them out from amongst the others.

"And that's the security feeds for the corridors around that one."

In the upper right hand corner of each of these feeds a number appeared, which corresponded to a map similar to the one Sovaer had generated earlier for plotting out a route to reach Jakose in the brig.

"You can talk to me by typing into the window," Sovaer added when Jakose failed to respond.

"This is really weird."

Sovaer couldn't help but laugh.

"Maybe but it certainly is useful if you're not a hacker."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Try and form a map of this place, find out what it is. The layout isn't in the public access section but I can get an idea by jumping through the security cameras and using their positions to create a map. I'll let you know what I have when I finish."

Focusing with his mind Sovaer began plucking out each of the data streams for the security cameras from the mass in front of him. As he plucked out each one he examined it and marked its position on a map he was creating. As more points were added the map became 3-D until he had a cluster of points marked out. Comparing what was actually shown on the feeds to the map he managed to create a rough floor plan. Then he added a layer of solid plating around the map to represent the outer walls. As he studied the 3-D image he came to the conclusion that this was indeed a ship, and it was a big one at that so it seemed pretty likely that this was the Zarasian flagship.

"I have a rough map of the place. Sorry it took so long but this place is pretty big, if it's not the Zarasian flagship I would be very much surprised."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to check the rest of the public access systems, see what I can find. If I can't find anything useful though then I am going to try getting past the first firewall."

"Good luck."

Placing the map to one side for now he started to sort through the remaining data streams. There wasn't much to find. Internal communications were easily accessible, or at least placing a call was, active transmissions were encrypted to prevent people from listening in. Ship to ship communications were also an option, provided it was within the Zarasian fleet, but even still that was rather pointless if you didn't know where you were to try to talk to another ship. That being said external sensors were not something he could access from the shallow end of the data pool he was sitting in so he didn't know if there was another ship to even bother trying to contact, Zarasian or otherwise. Everything else was sitting behind at least one firewall and so was completely inaccessible from where he was in the computer core. Everything from medical records to internal life sign readings was unavailable without an access code. The paranoia was extreme to the point that while he could make adjustments to the temperature in rooms he was unable to do so to the point that it might be endangering the room's occupants. Even the darn security recordings were sitting behind a firewall which meant Sovaer had a choice to make. Or to put it another way he could try to crack a firewall in an attempt to actually find something useful or he could sit there and do nothing.

"I have access to internal communications, the security cameras and ship to ship communications. That being said I don't even know if there is another ship out there to talk to and transmitting blind would just draw attention. If I'm going to find something useful I need to attempt to get past at least one firewall, and even then I don't know what I am going to find so I may have to break down another."

"How subtle are you going to be about this?"

Sovaer mentally moved up to the barrier around the next data pool. The way the computer core seemed to be set up was multiple data repositories separated by increasingly stronger firewalls. Looking around he could see there was a very strong firewall around the entirety of the computer core making it very difficult to hack in from the outside, unless you happened to be on the ship and had access to a terminal. As it appeared to him this first barrier was a wall of hexagonal shaped blocks glowing in orange, much like the observed shields on the Zarasian ships.

"Judging by the security on this thing I'll have to push harder and harder if I want to access the repositories the deeper I go. The first one though should be simple."

"I think," he added as he touched the barrier and received a jolt.

"Just try not to draw attention to yourself."

"I always do JJ."

"That isn't comforting."

Sovaer smirked before switching his attention to the firewall in front of him, his expression now serious. If he really wanted to he could smash his way through using a brute force attack. However that would most likely trigger every alarm the computer core had and possibly see him ejected from the system as his link was severed by the core in a bid to protect itself. No if he was going to do this undetected some finesse was needed. Now clearly the firewall was there for protection against someone trying to sneak in without the proper access, but there would have to be a way through for someone with the proper access. In other words he needed to find the part of the firewall that allowed for an access code to be entered and bypass it, essentially picking the lock on the gate rather than smashing through the wall.

The first step was finding the gate in the wall. Searching along the edge of the firewall he gently probed the hex sections looking that slight lack of resistance the others lacked. Eventually he found it, a section of the wall that didn't immediately repulse him when he touched it. Knowing he had found what he was looking for he accessed it with a thought. The hex segment rose out of the wall and immediately he was questioned for an access code, one he didn't have. Studying it with his mind he came to understand what the access code entailed. It was a ten digit numeric code, not extremely complex but it still had a large number of potential combinations. The Zarasian security designers were apparently the sneaky kind of paranoid. You may think they were making it easy on you by not making it alpha-numeric but ten digit codes are still tricky to crack. It would take time to go through all ten billion combinations but at least he shouldn't set off any alarm bells doing it. Focusing his mind on the task he set to work. Shuffling through the different combinations he completely lost track of time, all he knew was the next combination to try and luckily the more he concentrated on just the access code the faster he was able to try them until eventually he had the right one. As the last digit clicked into place the hex retreated back into the barrier, causing the whole thing to flash and disintegrate. He was in to the next level of the computer core.

"I'm in."

"Judging by how long it took you definitely used the subtle approach."

"Good thing they only used a numeric code or you would have been waiting even longer."

"Found anything?"

"A few data files on the surface, pretty basic information. Interesting, a video file related to the foundation of the empire…about Zarin apparently."

"What's on it?"

"Hang on I'm putting it up on the screen."

On the screen a video began to play, on the screen stood the Zarin they knew from the Averian military records. He was old, easily into his sixties and he was standing in front of something covered by a curtain and giving a speech to a cheering crowd. The two Averians watched in rapt attention as the video and the events recorded played out. When the video finally came to an end the two were silent for a while until finally Jakose started typing.

"We need to get this video to the others, they need to see this."

"I know, it certainly explains a lot, but we don't have a way to do that yet."

"Keep looking through the rest of the data. Go past the next firewall if you need to."

"I'm on it."

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**Please review.**


	36. Mission of Mercy

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

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**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Who can really say what will happen, well me for one but i'm not telling. You'll have to wait and see i'm afraid. I'm not sure about the Matrix more like Tron in this case i think, at least from a graphical perspective.**

**Shadows-of-Realm: Yeah he is, and don't worry he can always pull a new rabbit out of his hat.**

******s-david-m: There is always something you miss isn't there, thanks for pointing that out.**

**romanhellhound: Hmm Andromeda, i'll add that to the list of comparisons. **

**jobe457: Thank you.**

**BIG Z1776: I'll make a note of the names. I know what you mean but the problem is i keep sticking O'Neill in the tough situations where he gets stuck in Head of Homeworld Command mode. However i am addressing that particular issue.**

**Paul Odin son: Don't worry i have no intention of stopping, i have just been busy as of late is all which slows down my update speed.**

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**Tollana**

This world was the home to the Tollan. This world was where they had fled to after their former home had been rendered uninhabitable by an act of kindness gone wrong. They had gifted the people of Sarita with a fission device allowing them to produce an unlimited amount of power, only that gift for peace had been turned into a weapon of war as part of a world war. A fission warhead had been detonated and had cracked the planet in half and dramatically shifted the orbit of Tollana as a result. Escaping the devastation of their former home the Tollan had fled to a new world, a safe haven where they could continue their civilisation, or it had been. For a while they had been safe, protected by their advanced technology until one day a Goa'uld Ha'tak had appeared and had proved to be impervious to their ion cannons despite how many times they had fired on the ship. Even though Anubis had found a way to overcome their advantage for a time after that the Tollan had still been safe. In order to avert her races destruction Chancellor Travell had agreed to provide phase shifting weapons to Tanith, the Goa'uld who had been in command of the Ha'tak. It had all been going well for them, until Narim discovered the plan to send one of those bombs through to the SGC and destroyed the weapons. Tanith had then carried out his threat when they failed to deliver the weapons and levelled their civilisation. Since then the Tollan had been presumed to have been killed to the last man. The Nox, who had assisted the Tollan in the past, had also been of that assumption. The Tau'ri had heard nothing from the Tollan and also believed they had been killed to the last man but no one was certain. Now though the Tau'ri were going to make sure one way or another and put the matter to rest.

From a hyperspace window emerged the forms of what appeared to be two Pegasus class vessels but one of which was quite different. The first was a standard Pegasus class vessel and was the flagship of the Milky Way fleet the _Enterprise_, while the other was a British suggested variant named _Nightingale_. This second ship was not a warship, far from it, since it had the weapons systems stripped to the point where only the railguns remained in place. The Grodin had been replaced with a transport array of the same design as the one the Beliskner class possessed. The shields and engines remained, although they only drew power from two neutrino ion generators instead of the standard four making it slower. The wing hanger bays remained in place but had been filled with unarmed tactical assault transports known as TAT's, which bore a striking resemblance to V-22 Osprey minus the rotor engines, and modified shuttles. The large underbelly hanger also remained in place, but lacked the industrial beam constructors but small matter synthesisers remained, and the manufacturing areas on the ship had been removed. A great majority of the internal space on the ship had been re-allocated for a single purpose that earned it the name _Nightingale_, medical facilities. Filled with general care facilities, thousands of beds, operating theatres and the latest in medical equipment, including full body scanners, and crewed by some of the best medical staff in the stargate program this ship was a symbol of hope for a world that had fallen on hard times. For her maiden voyage it was decided that the _Nightingale_ would accompany the _Enterprise_ to Tollana in the hope that there would be Tollan survivors to find. If there were then they would most likely require the facilities that the _Nightingale_ was equipped with.

It was very early in the morning by the Tollan cities clock when the two ships arrived at the planet. Settling in to orbit the two ships began to scan the surface of the planet for life signs. On the bridge Jack, Sam and Daniel waited with baited breath for the results to come in.

"Anything Carter?" asked Jack from his command chair.

Sam looked up from the console which was displaying sensor readings. Her look was solemn as she shook her head.

Daniel winced and Jack sighed. They had all hoped that they might find some survivors, some poor souls that had survived the bombardment of the planet and were struggling to survive but were nevertheless alive.

"Alright then," said Jack. "Signal the _Nightingale_ that their medical staff can stand down and that we're going into the atmosphere."

"Jack," Daniel began.

"I know Daniel," said Jack, cutting him off and scowling at no one in particular.

In all honesty he didn't like what they were about to do very much either. There mission here was to search through the remains of the Tollan city and remove any traces of advanced technology, because the last thing they wanted was it falling into the wrong hands. It wasn't lost on anyone that what they were doing was essentially grave robbing but at least they didn't have to use the technology they recovered. In his heart though Jack knew, as did everyone else on the ship, that there was always the possibility that they might find working example of the phase technology that only the Tollan had possessed, and that technology would be utilised if found.

"Take us in," Jack ordered.

Slowly the _Enterprise_ and the _Nightingale_ descended into the atmosphere of the planet, coming to rest several thousand feet above the remains of the Tollan city. The city had been effectively levelled. The Wraith had shown more restraint when they attacked Sateda. What had once been towering structures of stone, metal and glass were now burnt piles of rubble and that pretty much summed up the entire city. The few structures that were still relatively intact were burnt out shells with entire floors open to the elements. There wasn't an intact window in the entire city. Anyone who had been inside when the bombardment began would have been killed instantly as the buildings collapsed on top of them. It was a sickening thought when they considered what the city had been like ten years ago. Ten years, this happened ten years ago and they had only just dispatched a search team. Ten years ago, a year ago, hell a month ago there could have been survivors but they were only really searching now. It was a small consolation that the Nox also believed the Tollan had been wiped out but they still didn't know for sure, until now.

"Damn," Jack whispered as he saw the state of the city.

"Instruct the _Nightingale_ its time to begin the clearance operation," Jack ordered, keeping his face a mask of stone.

"To think with all they're advanced technology the Tollan couldn't even prevent their own destruction," said Daniel solemnly. "All those lives lost."

"It could have been worse," said Jack. "The only survivor could have been Travell."

Daniel gave him a look and Jack said nothing in return. Sam looked at the two of them. She knew that despite their long friendship the two of them still saw things from their own unique perspectives. That normally worked well for them when it came to analysing a situation but it did cause some friction between them.

Outside the transport arrays on the two ships powered up and started to clear away the rubble that was all that remained of the city. If you looked closely you could see beneath the _Enterprise_ the tell tale flashes of light where Asgard beams were sweeping away the pieces of stone and metal. The _Nightingale_ however was taking a different approach to the task. The transport array on the nose of the ship powered up and started sweeping across the rubble in concentric circles until a pit was dug. Any technology found was beamed to storage although working examples were not present amongst them. Control crystals, fragments of working technology and large amounts of trinium were present but nothing had survived the levelling. It seemed explosions had somehow occurred that had damaged every single one of the computer cores to the point where only fragments remained. It seemed that in a final act of defiance against their attackers the Tollan had made sure that their knowledge would not fall into the clutches of the likes of Tanith.

The salvage process had been going on for an hour before something entirely unexpected happened. A life reading was detected outside the city. At first it was thought that it might be an animal, it certainly wasn't very strong. A closer scan revealed that it was in fact human. After a little while the life sign retreated and then vanished.

Spurred on by this ray of hope Jack, Sam and Daniel, accompanied by ISIS in holographic form went down to the surface to investigate. They refused to delegate this particular task to anyone. If there was someone down there then they were going to search for them and hopefully find them.

"Anything ISIS," asked Jack.

"Nothing on sensors yet commander," answered ISIS.

The three of them looked around at the rocky terrain. The outskirts of the city were open plains bordering on rocky ground. From the city this would have been a pretty impressive view, but there were still deep craters from where the plasma blasts had scattered. In the distance there were even the remains of an ion cannon that had destroyed in the attack. As they trod on they eventually came closer to the rocky area and noticed a series of cave mouths. As they approached they could hear the trickle of running water. Eventually they decided to split up and search for clues, with ISIS going with Jack. After five minutes there was a yell from Daniel.

"Um guys, I've found something you're going to want to see."

Following the sound of his voice they came across a stream and saw Daniel, smiling and sitting on a rocky outcrop. He pointed his thumb behind him and the others walked over to look. In an area sheltered from the wind there were a number of open vats, presumably to catch rain water and further down there was a large empty pot over the remains of a fire that was still steaming slightly and several large clear plastic bottles sitting in the sun. Just past that was the stream, leading to a pool of water lined with a form of tarpaulin and across the entrance to which a piece of fabric had been placed.

"Looks like a form of water purification," said Sam. "Pretty simplistic but certainly effective."

"I take it this means there are definitely survivors then," said Jack.

"I'd say so," said Daniel, with a grin.

"They might have spotted our ships and gotten spooked," said Sam.

"Let's try the caves," suggested Jack.

The caves were actually surprisingly dry and apparently empty. The further they went into the caves the quieter they all became, having encountered no other signs of life. Then Jack rounded a corner and found himself diving backwards for cover in order to avoid a staff blast.

"For crying out loud ISIS," complained Jack as he got back on his feet. "You could have warned me they were there."

"I am sorry Commander," apologised ISIS. "They did not register on my scans."

"From what I could see they looked like Tollan," said Jack, brushing himself down.

"They must have a way of hiding their life signs," suggested Sam. "It would explain why no one has been able to find them all this time."

"Well that answers that question," said Daniel. "Now how are we going to get them to talk to us?"

"ISIS, go and say hello," ordered Jack.

"Yes Commander," said ISIS striding forwards and past the corner. "People of the Tollan we are the Tau'ri, we mean you no harm."

The answer was a staff blast straight to her chest, or rather through her chest. Needless to say this did not go down well with the Tollan, who fired again.

"We will not be tricked," yelled an angry voice.

"I know that voice," said Sam as stark realization hit her. "Narim its Sam, we're here to help you."

"Prove it," Narim yelled back.

Jack decided to take a gamble. "Narim its Jack, Daniel's here to. We're coming round the corner with our hands up. Please, please don't shoot us."

Gingerly they stepped round the corner with their hands in the corner to be met by a group of three Tollan men, including Narim, standing in front of a large metal door and all pointing staff weapons at them. The three of them looked rather worse for wear, thin with rough cut long hair and beards. The clothes which were once the typical Tollan fashion and had been pristine ten years ago were now dusty, tattered and torn and yet still relatively intact displaying their high quality. When the three of them rounded the corner Narim stared at them in shock.

"It really is you," he said in disbelief.

"Hello Narim," said Sam. "It's good to see you again."

Narim lowered the staff weapon and gestured for the others to do the same.

"And you Samantha. Who is your companion?" he asked, gesturing to ISIS.

"This is ISIS, a computer generated holographic interface for one of our ships," Sam explained.

"The ships floating above our city are yours?" asked one of the Tollan in disbelief. "Preposterous, the Tau'ri are not advanced enough to build such ships."

"We've come a long way over the years," said Jack. He had expected this kind of response. When the Tollan had been levelled they didn't have the X-302 operational yet.

The other two Tollan gave him a look to say they very much doubted that but Narim looked intrigued.

"So as we were saying we're here to help," continued Jack. "We can offer you food, medicine, clean clothes, a shower and a shave and more importantly a way off this rock."

"That would be greatly appreciated," said Narim. "However I cannot make this decision for all of us. Come with me."

Narim turned and opened the door by typing a code into a control panel. The door slid open and the group stepped through. As they walked down the corridor they had glimpses into other rooms, and the withered forms of the Tollan lying within.

"How many of you are there?" asked Daniel quietly.

"Less than five thousand of us," Narim answered just as quietly. "When the bombardment started those of us that could fled here, not many made it."

"I'm sorry," said Daniel.

"It is not your fault Dr Jackson," said Narim. "The moment that Ha'tak descended upon our world and survived our days were numbered."

"So who's in charge here, you?" asked Jack as they walked along the long corridors.

"That is something I need to discuss with you first," he said with a grimace. "I am only second in command amongst our people the person in charge is-"

"Narim," a shrill female voice yelled, cutting him off before he could finish. "What is going on?"

Jack grimaced. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

From around the corner using a staff weapon to support was the familiar face of Travell. The last ten years had apparently not been very kind to her health if the way she was leaning on the staff weapon was any indication. Despite the arthritis she appeared to be suffering from though her appearance had hardly changed at all; her eyes were still blazing with internal fire, her hair tied back in a tight bun and her clothes seemed much neater than every other Tollan they had encountered so far. The staff weapon wasn't the best walking stick for her to use but somehow Jack couldn't imagine her relinquishing it for a cane. In his mind it suited his image of her rather well and he was consciously making the effort to not make an 'old battle axe' reference. It wasn't easy.

"What are they doing here?" she asked, making no attempt to hide her dislike for them.

"They are here to help us," Narim told her.

"And how exactly do they plan to do that?" she asked.

"Well for starters we thought we would provide you with the bare essentials," said Jack airily. "Food, water, medical supplies, those sorts of things. And get you off this world and somewhere more hospitable if you want."

"I presume you must have stolen a Goa'uld vessel to get here," stated Travell. "There are thousands of us here. You cannot possibly transport us all off the planet, it would take months."

"Actually we came in a ship we built ourselves," said Sam.

Travell gave her a withering look. "Then it will take much longer to get us to another world with your primitive technology. It is a miracle you have been able to get here at all."

"Sooner than you'd think actually," added Jack.

"The world we are taking you to is only about two thousand light years away," explained Sam.

"From what I am told that should take about five minutes at top speed," added Jack, with a slightly smug smile.

"You are lying," stated Travell. "Even the Goa'uld do not possess a hyperdrive that fast."

"Did not," corrected Jack.

"What?" Travell snapped.

"The Goa'uld did not possess a hyperdrive that fast," stated Jack. "Past tense."

"The System Lords were overthrown four years ago, and Ba'al, the last surviving Goa'uld, was executed by the Tok'ra over a year ago," explained Daniel.

"The System Lords are no more," said Jack with no small amount of pride. "We made sure of that."

Travell narrowed her eyes at him.

"Assuming I accept your explanation where will you take us?" asked Travell.

"A world under the protection of the Asgard that is currently home to some relocated natives of the planet Lucia," said Daniel. "They will have a place for you to stay waiting for you upon your arrival while we'll provide anything you might require for the foreseeable future."

"You have heard of the Asgard right?" asked Jack. "You know, alliance of four great races consisting of the Asgard, Nox, Furlings and who you know as the Ancients. I only ask because it's important if you wish to understand about current events."

"The Nox informed our people of them," confirmed Travell.

"Oh well that makes things easier," said Jack jovially. "Because the Asgard named us the fifth race for all the good things we've done over the years for them and several galaxies and gifted us with their knowledge. Naturally we were very grateful and decided to put it to good use, like building the ships outside."

Sam smiled slightly. She knew Jack knew about the crowd their little conversation with the Chancellor had attracted and was no doubt enjoying every moment of this little reunion. Still so long as he stayed happy he wasn't getting angry at the Chancellor.

"It seems much has changed in the past ten years," said Narim.

"You would be amazed," said Jack gleefully. "We've helped liberate three galaxies from tyrannical overlords, four if you count Ida and the replicators."

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this," Travell said angrily. "You cannot possibly have accomplished this in just ten years and any help you provided will no doubt have been minor."

"Well you can ask the Asgard when you get to see them," said Jack, refusing to have his mood dampened. "There are actually a few on the _Enterprise_ you can ask if you want."

"I want to speak to the Nox," demanded Travell.

"Not possible at the moment but if you ask the Asgard they might be able to oblige you," answered Jack. "Personally I'm not feeling obliged to help you personally with anything other than getting off this rock."

"You have no right to deny my speaking with them," insisted Travell.

"Actually you have no right to demand anything of me after what you tried to do," retorted Jack, his expression souring slightly before brightening again.

"Now I need to make a phone call," said Jack. "Anyone who wants to leave this rock can come outside and we'll have transports waiting for you."

With that he turned on his heel and walked out of the facility, with the others trailing behind him.

"Oh and if I have to speak to you again about any demands you have then make sure Narim is present," Jack yelled over his shoulder. "Him I feel no urge to put on trial for attempted mass murder."

Travell could only watch in stunned silence as the Tau'ri group walked away.

"ISIS," said Jack once they were out of ear shot of Travell. "Send a message to the Asgard that we will be requiring that habitat and that there are at most five thousand refugees. Tell the _Nightingale_ that their medical staff are back on duty and advise them that they will be taking all the refugees. I know that the ship isn't supposed to take that many but they are in much better condition than we thought and it won't be for long. We'll load them up in waves and get the minor patients treated first then send them to get cleaned up."

"On it Commander," replied ISIS.

"Jack," said Daniel. "These people are going to be more than a little messed up by all of this. Do you really want to crowd them all onto one ship?"

"I like the idea of having them on a warship even less," argued Jack. "We keep them all together then they can't accuse us of separating them. Besides I wasn't kidding when I said they could reach that planet in five minutes and I intend for it to take no longer than that. We'll deal with any of the nuts before we leave the planet."

"Did you really mean what you said about Travell?" asked Sam.

"Well unless she manages to piss me off I'm willing to leave it for now," answered Jack.

* * *

From the hanger bays of the _Nightingale_ one hundred and twenty eight TAT's and twenty transport shuttles took flight and flew across to the cave entrance where the masses of Tollan had gathered. Normally the ship would only hold half this many TAT's but an exception had been as this was the only ship in its class. On mass the craft began to land in the plains and opened their doors to allow access for the refugees. Medical personnel from the pararescue branch of the air force were on hand to help the Tollan people into the awaiting transports and to direct the more critical patients into the shuttles for immediate treatment.

Despite the good intentions a number of Tollan were clearly bitter towards the Tau'ri, knowing the part they played in the destruction of their world. These individuals were noted and watched, and would be taken to a separate area of the ship for their medical examinations. If security needed to intervene then they would be near by to do so. Although the _Nightingale_ was easily capable of reaching the planet in no time at all they chose not to leave the planet until the Tollan had been treated and provided food and water, as well as given a chance to bathe.

Jack, Sam and Daniel had watched them carefully as they began to embark onto the awaiting craft. It had been interesting to note the expression on Travell's face when she had seen the ships sitting over the city. When she saw the transport array of the _Nightingale_ active though she immediately came over to them, propelling herself forwards on the two crutches that the medics had provided her with and with Narim following her.

"What is that ship doing?" demanded Travell.

"Sorting through the remains of your city to remove the technology left behind," said Jack. "We don't want it falling into the wrong hands after all."

What he had failed to mention was that there were not in fact any working examples of technology amongst the rubble, or at least none that they had found so far.

"You have no right to our technology," argued Travell. "It is ours and not for primitives who have not earned the advancements."

Jack gave a steely look but his rebuke was interrupted by ISIS appearing out of thin air next to him.

"Commander our guest has arrived," the AI informed him.

"Thank you ISIS please beam her down," said Jack, smirking at the shocked look on Travell's face when ISIS had appeared and when Lya was beamed down shortly afterwards.

"Lya," said Daniel. "It's good to see you again."

"And you all," said Lya warmly. "I am pleased that you were able to find the Tollan alive, like you we were under the impression that they were lost along with their world."

"I am standing right here you know," said Travell indignantly.

"And we are very pleased about that," said Jack, still sporting a grin.

Ignoring him Travell turned to Lya. "On behalf of my people I request that you as one of the great races intervene."

"And what matter do you wish me to intervene in Chancellor?" asked Lya.

"I demand that our technology be handed over to us and does not remain in the hands of whoever's ships those are," demanded Travell, letting more anger than she should have slip into her tone.

"Have the Tau'ri not explained the situation to you Chancellor?" asked Lya, sounding puzzled.

"We tried," said Daniel. "She doesn't seem to want to believe us. She should believe you though."

Lya nodded.

"Those ships were designed and built by the Tau'ri Chancellor," Lya explained. "They are their ships and theirs alone. They came here to look for survivors despite the fact that we believed you to have been wiped out. It is fortunate that we were wrong."

"Nevertheless," argued Travell. "They have no right to our technology."

"We don't want your technology," Jack stated flatly.

"The Tau'ri informed us of the plan to search this world and that they would remove the technology so that it would not fall into the hands of those that would abuse it," said Lya. "As your allies we gave this mission our blessing because we believed that this ambition would be in accordance with your own wishes. They also agreed to recover it for your use should you be found alive."

Their conversation was interrupted by a troupe of ten Tollan, wearing side arms and carrying staff weapons, exiting the bunker while two of them were carrying a large box between them. They were immediately confronted by a number of PJ's who asked them to open the box and more importantly to relinquish their weapons. As such an argument was rapidly breaking out.

"What is that all about?" asked Jack. "I'm assuming there is something important in the box."

"It contains a copy of all of our people's knowledge," explained Narim despite the death glare Travell was giving him. "When our city was being destroyed all our computer cores automatically downloaded into a secure server in the bunker and then self destructed."

"Will you please tell them to relinquish their weapons?" asked Jack. "We are not allowing armed people on a hospital ship."

"They are following my instructions and will not allow our knowledge and technology to fall into your hands," asserted Travell

"Now let me make this very clear Chancellor," said Jack with steel in his voice. "We do not want your technology, we do not need your technology and we are perfectly content with learning on our own how to use the technology that others think we have learned. In the past fifteen years we only actively searched for technology in the hope of defending our world from hostile forces. Any technology we have we worked hard to understand and earn. A year after you tried to betray us we launched our first ship that we built using what we had learned by studying the technology the Goa'uld had tried to use to destroy us. Now we have a fleet of ships that are more than capable of dealing with what the System Lords had at the height of their power."

"And yet you did so using other peoples technology," argued Travell. "What have you developed by yourselves without others assistance?"

"Every single ship you see here for one thing," Jack shot back. "The Asgard were kind enough to gift us with their knowledge but they trusted us to make use of it. We had to figure out what they had given us for ourselves and put it to good use, and you know what we have. We could have used the knowledge they gave us to wipe out our enemies but instead we took the high road. We showed the Ori followers and the Jaffa the truth about their so called gods, cured the Wraith of their feeding addiction and wiped out the replicators in two galaxies. Now I understand you may not be familiar with some of those names but believe me if you had met them you would be very grateful to us."

Jack found himself short of breath after that tirade and in an arguable break of regulations, that no one present was about to prosecute anyway, Sam placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Now then," said Jack having calmed down slightly and taken comfort in the fact that Travell was looking suitably chastened. "There is a stargate on my ship that brought Lya here to this planet. We can send her and that box on to the Asgard where it will remain safely in their hands until you take possession of it again."

"That is my final offer," Jack warned when it looked like she was about to argue again.

"Very well," Travell agreed begrudgingly.

"Good," said Jack. "Now then let's get your people checked over and disarmed shall we."

"I will see to it Colonel," said Narim.

"I would like to speak to your superior officer when this is over," added Travell. "I feel that I should be talking to someone higher up when it comes to my people's affairs."

Sensing the reaction this was about to invoke Daniel decided to jump in.

"Oh that's right we forgot to mention there have been some promotions over the past few years," said Daniel. "Allow me to introduce Colonel Samantha Carter, commander of the _George Hammond_, and Major General Jack O'Neill, the head of Homeworld Command and effective military leader of all Earths defences and space based military assets."

Jack didn't complain in the slightest at Daniel cutting him off, the look on Travell's face was priceless.

"He actually wanted to retire you know," continued Daniel. "But they claimed they needed him, and the Asgard certainly didn't like the idea. Still that's not very surprising since they named their most powerful ship class after him."

Some people just earned fudging the truth a little to get the point across and in this case Travell was one of them.

"I wish to talk to the Asgard representatives," stated Travell.

"For what purpose?" Lya asked.

"I wish to make it clear that the Tau'ri are not suited for the level of technology they have been given," said Travell.

Jack threw his hands up as if to say 'I give up' and walked a few steps away from the group.

"The Asgard gifted the Tau'ri with pieces of technology for helping save their race from destruction on numerous occasions," explained Lya. "It is also my understanding that the Asgard believed their race to be on the verge of extinction and entrusted their knowledge to them in the hope that would be able to use to save this galaxy from conquest by the Ori, an offshoot of the species you know as the Ancients, which they succeeded in doing so."

"Galaxy number three," Jack murmured loud enough for all to hear.

"Clearly though the Asgard managed to avoid becoming extinct if they are to guard our new home," argued Travell. "Why have they not reclaimed the knowledge now that the threat has been averted?"

"Because the Asgard gave the gift to them because they believed they were worthy," answered Lya. "They named them the fifth race and it is the opinion of the Nox that they have earned that title with their current and past deeds. Even now they are helping those in need in another galaxy in a fight that they have no stake in."

"Galaxy number four," Jack murmured, again just loud enough for Travell to hear.

"They were entrusted with the safe guard of this galaxy and its human worlds and have succeeded admirably," continued Lya.

"Clearly though they are a violent people if they would send warships on a mission of mercy," argued Travell.

"One of those ships is a hospital ship capable of providing medical care for all of your people," Lya assured her.

"Hospital ship indeed," Travell said in disbelief. "I can see quite clearly that it is armed."

"We take the safety of our people very seriously," stated Daniel. "And you would be surprised how many people would try to steal one of our ships because of the technology we have been gifted with."

"You really feel it necessary to arm a hospital ship?"

"Indeed we do, and in case you were wondering," added Jack, turning round. "Galaxy one was when we took down the System Lords and galaxy two was when we wiped out the Replicators that had infested the Ida galaxy and were causing the Asgard a lot of problems."

"We've had a busy few years," added Daniel in an attempt to lighten the mood. "But at least at the end of the day there is always cake, right Jack?"

Jack couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "Yes there is."

"Now I think its time to get you into the care of the Asgard," Daniel stated finally.

Narim took the hint and hastened Travel on her way to the nearest transport.

* * *

Onboard the _Enterprise_ Jack received an update about the peace talks with the Zarasians. His thoughts were summed up in two words, "Oh crap."

* * *

**Please review.**


	37. Let the Bad Times Roll

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: .com/albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. .net/topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Evil cliffhangers are fun, but i will never simply leave you hanging on the same cliff. You're right Travell will always be present, if there is one person that is going to survive its her. One can only guess as to what might actually kill her. **

**romanhellhound: Triad requires some form of governmental body to hold the Triad so at the moment its going to be difficult for them to pull off. However the Tollan lack a statute of limitations so it is possible to hold it later on.**

**BIG Z1776: I told you O'Neill can be funny, it just requires the right scenario for him to cut loose. I'll keep an eye out for your piece.**

**PathKeeper: I hope i answered your questions to your satisfaction. Enjoy the latest chapter.**

**Ruby Pena: Glad you enjoyed it.**

**ferivera: I know i would like to see for real as well. Ah well.**

**Oddliver: Taking her down a notch just never gets old no matter how many times you read about it.**

**StargateFFWriter: That certainly sounds interesting. I'll keep an eye for it. Enjoy the latest chapter.**

* * *

**New Lucia**

In orbit of the world a hyperspace window opened and the Tollan rescue task force emerged to conclude their very short trip. On board the _Nightingale_ were the nearly four thousand survivors of the Tollan race.

To accommodate them all on the ship cargo areas had been stripped of their contents and filled with portable beds and benches where they could sit and rest. Given that they had been crammed into a small bunker every night for the past ten years actually having somewhere comfortable to sit meant this wasn't much of an issue for them.

What was causing them some grievance was having to turn over their well being to virtual strangers. Admittedly the Tau'ri had been known to them for some time now but this current incarnation made them something else entirely in a lot of people's eyes. When they had last had an encounter with the Tau'ri they had lacked a single craft capable of escaping their own atmosphere under its own power. Now though they had crossed the distance between their worlds to come to their rescue and then planned on taking them to another world in a journey time of mere minutes. Such a dramatic shift in the status quo was not something a lot of them could readily accept. While the PJ's were attempting to get people aboard the waiting transports fights had broken out on more than one occasion which both the Tau'ri and the Tollan had made efforts to break up. Usually the cause of the fights was simple paranoia at the intentions of their supposed saviours. In some cases it was the unwillingness to relinquish their acquired weapons. Since the majority of these weapons had been taken from Jaffa the wielders of them had personally killed they were not only disinclined to hand them over but were very good at keeping hold of them. In others the cause was the same mindset that Travell possessed, that the Tau'ri were a primitive race incapable of providing them with assistance and thus this must be a deception. Narim had been forced to step in on more than one occasion to persuade these particular Tollan that they were not in danger and that the Tau'ri had indeed come to aid them.

Several techniques were being employed to not only help the Tollan but to convince them to accept help. Making MRE's readily available in large numbers so that the malnourished Tollan could eat their fill was certainly proving effective. The more distrusting members of the Tollan were unwilling to accept the food if it was simply handed to them. Instead a large pile of MRE's were placed in easy reach of gathered groups of Tollan allowing them to take them as they wished. The more trusting simply helped themselves and this in turned encouraged the others to try the food. As the barriers of mistrust started to break down the piles of food became considerably smaller as the hungry Tollan ate their fill. Another technique was not arming any members of the crew that interacted with the Tollan, security personnel were doing their best to stay out of sight but were nevertheless present. The most crucial technique being employed was that the _Nightingale_ didn't even leave the atmosphere of Tollana without first providing every one of the Tollan with some form of medical care. Even if in the interests of hygiene this only consisted of a shower and a set of clean clothes it was still provided. Once the Tollan were all settled and those required an extended stay in a medical facility were safely tucked in the ship had finally departed for New Lucia. Even with just the two neutrino ion generators onboard the _Nightingale_ setting the pace the journey to the planet had been completed in less than six minutes.

Now though the ships had arrived at the planet and were in the process of transporting the Tollan to their new home. The Asgard had purpose built a settlement similar to those provided for the Lucians only on a larger scale. The base technology being incorporated was at a level that the Tollan were more accustomed to before their fall. The new city also contained a number of buildings that would normally be spread amongst those of the Lucian settlements, government buildings, a hospital, a dedicated computer core facility and several other buildings were all present. The actual government for the Tollan was still a matter of debate, although it was being suggested that Travell was looking at early retirement in recognition for her many years of service to the Tollan people during the difficult times. Whether or not this would prove true was yet to be seen but it was noted that their new hosts certainly seemed to be dealing with Narim more often than the Chancellor. Numerous supplies were also included in the new city, waiting to be used by the Tollan. Food, water and medical supplies were amongst the basic necessities included but there was also a large supply of what could be considered unnecessary for survival items, something the Tollan had not seen for a decade. The most important item included though was a gift from the Tau'ri for public use, although safeguards had been included to prevent tampering, and that was a matter synthesiser. Anything from the database of basic items could be produced using the miraculous technology, something which was met with mixed responses from the Tollan when they learned this was something the Tau'ri now regularly utilised. Still no matter how they felt about the Tau'ri and their current standing in the universe the benefits of being able to use such a device whenever they needed to could not be denied. The device would soon prove to be so popular that an ordering system would eventually need to be introduced until the buzz died down.

The Tollan data core had been safely delivered and was waiting for them upon their arrival, untouched by the Tau'ri as promised. But what they did not know was that a single piece of technical data had been removed from the data core, the design plans for the Tollan stargate. The Tollan stargate had been constructed by them with the assistance of the Nox, who had provided them with the basic design plans to allow for them to be reunited with their lost people and maintain a place on the galactic stage. Taking Chancellor Travell's words to heart about reclaiming knowledge from those who were not ready for it Lya had requested the help of the Asgard to reclaim their knowledge from the Tollan. The reason for this was two fold. Firstly this would mean the Tollan would not have sole possession of gate travel by building their own which might override the other stargate and also allowed their off world travel to be monitored. Secondly this meant that the Tollan would be made aware of just what their current standing in the eyes of the Nox was with regards to their previous actions and attempted attack on the Tau'ri. When a check of the data core was performed and the actions of the Nox, who had even left a recorded note to prove it was them who did the deed, was discovered rumours would begin to sweep amongst the Tollan populace about the possible implications. Most were worried that this meant that their political standing as well as their general standing had taken a hit, but there were always going to be those who believed this proved the Tau'ri should lose their new technology as well. If they were apparently not ready for the advanced technology then the more primitive Tau'ri certainly weren't. Unsurprisingly most of these people were firm supporters of Travell.

Shortly after her arrival on the planet Travell had descended on the Asgard watchtower in the Tollan settlement with what she thought was righteous fury. Before she made her move though she took the time to clean up her appearance, donning a clean set of Chancellors robes after having bathed she finally resembled her old self. Feeling ready she immediately went to see Freyr, the Asgard who had been charged as protector of this world, intent on seeing the issues that plagued her resolved. When she arrived and found Lya of the Nox also present she thought that fortune must be smiling on her.

"Chancellor Travell," said Freyr. "What can we do for you?"

"I wish to know why our data core was tampered with," Travell demanded.

"I assume you are referring to the removal of the stargate schematics that my people gave you," stated Lya. "As was explained in the recording I left for you that knowledge is no longer necessary for your people to possess and so we have reclaimed it, as you implied was our right."

"My people still have use for those plans," Travell protested.

"No you do not," said Lya. "Those plans were to allow you to reunite with your lost people. Since you have no need to build your own stargate while you have access to the one on this world then you do not require the plans."

"I still object to you accessing our data core without our permission," Travell complained. "If you have breached the safe guards preventing tampering what is to say that others who wish for examples of our technology have not also done so."

"Chancellor," said Freyr calmly. "From the moment that data core arrived here it was under our care. It was we who broke through its firewall, at the request of the Nox, and we made sure that no one else was allowed access to it. However I suspect your concern is that the Tau'ri have had access to your technology."

"You seem to have no problem with sharing your technology with races that are not ready for such advancements," Travell accused. "How do I know you did not decide that the Tau'ri would benefit from ours?"

"Because Chancellor," said Freyr in a steely tone. "We do not steal other races knowledge. The Tau'ri were entrusted with our knowledge so that they could save this galaxy from enslavement or annihilation and because they were named the Fifth Race and deemed worthy of such knowledge. My people believed them capable of utilising what we gave them to the benefit of both themselves and others and it seems we have been proven right.

"The Tau'ri are a warlike people," protested Travell. "They would arm a hospital ship. Surely that proves they are more likely to do more harm than good."

"My people also arm our science ships," stated Freyr. "And the fact that you yourself owe them a debt for rescuing you from your world when you would just as soon see them destroyed shows that they will not abuse what we have given them."

"Just because they have used the technology well thus far does not mean they always will," argued Travell. "They still lack the knowledge to use it effectively."

"That is why we are helping them by teaching them about what we have given them at their own request," stated Freyr. "The Tau'ri have already displayed that they are capable of learning by themselves and we have high hopes for them."

"But in the mean time they are still unprepared when there are other races out there that are prepared for what you have to offer," Travell reasoned. "You need only to offer it and they would accept it out of duty."

"You are referring to your own race," stated Freyr.

"I am," confirmed Travell.

"Then you are mistaken," Freyr argued. "What technology of ours the Tau'ri have was gifted to them, not offered. They did not ask for our technology they earned it."

"Then tell me what tasks my people must complete to also earn such a gift," Travell requested.

"Chancellor, you misunderstand," said Lya. "The Tau'ri earned this gift because of the actions they performed out of a sense of duty, not because they hoped to gain a reward."

"My people feel no obligation to gift your people with any technology," stated Freyr. "We are providing you with sanctuary here at the request of our allies and because of our own sense of duty to help those in need but you will not be receiving any of our technology."

"I request that we be given our own world," requested Travell. "My people would do better if we are provided with the same level of technology as we are used to instead of being constricted to this primitive level."

"The level of technology we have provided you with is more than capable of sustaining your people," argued Freyr. "It is a great improvement over your previous conditions before you came here. The Tau'ri have also given you use of a matter synthesiser while you are here so that you can produce anything that you might need."

"Nevertheless my people would be better off without having to stand in the shadow of a race that not long ago we were easily superior to," stated Travell. "My people still have their pride. We want to stand on our own."

"Chancellor your people currently lack the numbers to survive on your own," stated Lya. "Your people as it stands are still greatly weakened from the last decade. It will be some time before you have healed and you are able to stand on your own two feet, without the assistance we would provide."

"To put it simply Chancellor," said Freyr. "You are stuck with the assistance of the Tau'ri for the time being whether you personally like it or not. That is what is best for your people."

Travell looked visibly ill at that and Freyr knew he had seen right through her.

* * *

On board the _Enterprise_ Jack was making a phone call to _Atlantis_ using the holographic subspace long range communication device. Sheppard was not so happy about that fact because it meant he had to answer his boss's questions face to face.

"Start talking Colonel because I want some answers," Jack said with feeling. "Who the hell kidnapped our allies and how the hell did they do it?"

Sheppard winced. "We never even saw them coming and before we knew what was happening they were already on top of us. They used some sort of drop craft we've never seen before to land a large number of troops on the planet and attacked the delegation. We fought them off and managed to neutralise some of them in order to make our escape but in the attempt Etere Zarin was wounded while Minister Jakose and his bodyguard Sovaer were taken captive. When they had the Minister the enemy pulled back and somehow managed to escape from the area without us being able to track them."

"That still doesn't explain why he allowed this sort of situation to even occur," Jack continued angrily. "Now how about you explain how the hell this happened under your watch?"

"Well sir," said Sheppard sheepishly. "We're honestly still trying to figure that one out ourselves."

"Please do not be too hard on him O'Neill," requested Thor. "Our sensors were unable to detect neither the appearance of the landing craft nor their method of escape. The planet possessed a series of ion clouds that the enemy were able to hide in to escape detection."

"Why did you allow the talks to take place on this planet anyway?" Jack demanded.

"The Zarasians requested neutral ground sir," answered Sheppard. "This planet was a suggested by them and we made sure to check it out before hand. We believed that any attack on the planet could be prepared for because we would detect the approach or in the worse case departure of any hostile ships. When we got there there were no indications that there was a hostile force present at the time."

Jack sighed. "So what you're telling me is that there is someone out there that has a form of FTL that we can't track and could pop up at any moment, fantastic. Who would know about the peace talks in the first place?"

"Only the parties that were supposed to be there," said Thor. "And yet someone else must have managed to find out about it, possibly by intercepting our transmissions."

"How do we know one of the races that were at the talks wasn't behind this?" asked Jack. "I notice from the report you sent that there were conveniently no bodies left behind to examine. It sounds to me like someone wanted to keep their identity secret."

"We're not discounting that sir," Sheppard assured him. "But it is possible it is another alien race that wishes to keep their existence a secret since we saw similar tactics employed by the Vanir."

"Or one of our so called friends betrayed us and don't want us to know about it," Jack stated.

"Unfortunately that is indeed possible," said Thor. "We need more information though before we can come any particular conclusion."

"What can we deduce from what we know?" asked Jack.

"That the attackers had either had something against the Averians or it was a kidnapping of opportunity," said Sheppard.

"They also seemed to have no interest in taking Etere Zarin hostage since they happily shot at him," continued Thor. "This implies that they are either unaware of the Zarasians existence or that he was not of importance to them."

"But there is always the possibility that that was accidental or even intentional to throw us off the scent," argued Sheppard.

"The same however could be said for the Averians," Thor argued back.

"And if it's not them then the Wraith are the only ones who could be responsible," said Jack. "Not that I don't doubt the cunning and ingenuity of your people Thor but I just don't see it happening."

"Thank you O'Neill," said Thor politely. "I also doubt it was your people that were responsible for this as well."

"Wish I could say the same," admitted Jack. "Somehow I can just see this being a plot by the IOA or some other snake that science claims is definitely human."

Thor blinked. "Is something wrong O'Neill? I sense that there is something else bothering you."

Jack sighed. "Sorry Thor I just finished the Tollan rescue mission."

"I see," said Thor, in that emotionless way the Asgard had gotten so good at over the millennia. "Did you fail to find any survivors?"

"No that's just it, there were survivors," said Jack. "There were less than five thousand of them and they've been there for ten years and we didn't do anything about it until now."

"Do not blame yourself O'Neill," said Thor comfortingly. "Even the Nox believed them to be extinct. You went looking for them because you hoped there might be some survivors. It seems your instincts were correct."

"Yeah Thor I know," said Jack sounding more than a little depressed. "You know of all the people to survive Travell was one of them."

"I presume you two had words," said Thor. His friend had more than a few choice words for the good Chancellor and her previous command decisions.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh she had plenty to say, especially about your decision to entrust a primitive race with your legacy."

Sheppard winced. "Sorry sir."

"If you would like O'Neill," suggested Thor. "I can see that she is put in her place."

Jack actually cracked a smile. "Thanks buddy but that's really not necessary. Lya decided to pay a visit when she found out that the Tollan were alive, she gave Travell a piece of her mind and so did I as it happens."

Sheppard grinned. "Good for you sir."

"Watch it Sheppard, it's still your ass on the line for this little incident," Jack scolded.

"Sorry sir," said Sheppard, duly chastened.

"Get me some answers," ordered Jack. "We need to find them quickly or this whole thing is going to come back and bite us on the ass. You're lucky you were able to get as far as you did in the peace talks before it all went to hell."

Sheppard tapped his ear piece. "This is Sheppard, what have you got?"

Sheppard's eyes widened in horror as he listened to the information being conveyed to him.

"Sir we just got a message from the battlecruiser fleet," Sheppard said in a low voice. "They've arrived at _Celestia_."

"And?" Jack asked, sensing he wasn't going to like what was coming.

Sheppard told him. He was right, he didn't like it.

"Oh crap."

* * *

_**Celestia**_

So far things were not going as Telford would have liked. Despite their best attempts at dealing with the situation the invaders were still making their way deeper and deeper into the station and were breaking through every barrier they put up to stop them. When they had realised what was happening the station had been put into lockdown. Every single door that could be closed had been closed, then locked and as an extra measure emergency force fields had been activated. And yet despite this the invaders had been blasting away at the force fields until the emitters failed and then forced the doors open by hand when they proved resistant to anything short of high explosives. Thankfully the heavier doors around the armoury and vital areas appeared to be holding out, for now anyway. The force fields would eventually fail it was true but the armoured doors certainly weren't going to be forced open.

At this point in the siege the defending forces had finally been able to gather together and arm themselves. Now they were kitted out with the latest tempest battle armour and armed with as much weaponry they could carry on them without compromising their fighting effectiveness. Nevertheless that didn't change the fact that there were only forty two military trained personnel against an invading force that was at least as strong as a full battalion. So far the only real attempt at fighting back had been to perform hit and run strikes on the enemy using their access to the internal cameras to their advantage. Using these methods they had killed a number of the enemy that had been separated from the rest by the lockdown as well as several scouting parties. Operating in packs and lining up at least a dozen barrels on the door before having Celeste open it for them they had been able to eliminate nearly a hundred unsuspecting enemy soldiers. With the need to move quickly though they had been forced to leave behind the enemy soldiers and get out of dodge as there were always a lot more about to bear down on them. It was rather frustrating for Telford and everyone else because it meant that they were running away just as much as they were attacking. Later on they would could back and search the bodies but for now they had another group to ambush. As time went on however more and more doors were being forced open and the enemy were making their way deeper into the station. Originally they had tried venting the atmosphere in the sealed areas, but apparently the helmets the enemy wore though were air tight and it hadn't proved an effective strategy.

The one good piece of news they did have was that they had been able to recover a number of their own people that had been rendered unconscious by the stun wave. Once the last of them awoke they would have another hundred civilians and another fifty six combat troops.

In the control room Telford finished adjusting the last piece of his own suit of tempest battle armour. One of the teams had dropped it off for him along with an assortment of weaponry should they need it.

"What's our status," he ordered.

"So far we count eighty six dead enemy soldiers," said Perkins. "None wounded."

"Dead is better than wounded as far as the enemy are concerned," commented Telford. It had been that kind of day.

"Sir," yelled Jones. "They've breached the secondary control room blast doors."

"How the hell did they do that?" demanded Telford.

"They brought in some kind of heavy plasma cannon sir," said Jones. "The doors weren't forced they were blown to pieces."

"Shut down all power to that room," ordered Telford. "I don't want a single volt going to those consoles."

"Already on it Colonel," said Celeste, appearing in holographic form beside him.

"Good to know," said Telford. "What else?"

"No response yet from the distress call we sent out but from what I can tell the drone is still on route," said Chen. "We're on the outskirts of the system so it will take a while to arrive."

Telford scowled. The station had been constructed on the outskirts of the system so that it wouldn't be affected by the suns gravity beyond what they could compensate for with their thrusters. That fact was now working against them since it meant the drone would take well over a day to reach the planet and no one knew how big the jamming field actually was. They just had to hold out for as long as they could.

"I have managed to localise the source of the communication jamming field though sir," Chen added hesitantly.

"Where is it?" asked Telford, sensing he may not want to know.

"In one of the large boxes sitting in the gate room," Chen answered.

"Somehow I knew it would be," said a frustrated Telford.

The gate room was ground zero for the enemy incursion and the most difficult to get to. If they were going to shut it down it would most likely be after they killed the enemy in the gate room and the surrounding area.

"Colonel," said Perkins. "We have the fleet on sensors. They just exited hyperspace."

* * *

Alongside the station a massive hyperspace window tore open and deposited the fleet of 304's and 305's. Forming up they made their approach to the station where they were due to dock and resupply while waiting for further instructions. It took them a while to notice but eventually they registered the drone flying towards the mining world and its transmission, _Celestia_ was under attack from within. But before those that noticed could react quickly enough to pass this information to the rest of the fleet the unthinkable happened. Every ion cannon on _Celestia_ fired one salvo after another without even aiming before suddenly stopping at the fifth and the result was devastating. Even though the individual ships had not been targeted the mass of firepower meant they still took enough hits to heavily damage nearly a quarter of the fleet.

In the cold vacuum of space once proud ships were covered in scorch marks. Hull fragments floated alongside the ships they had come from while inside the crews were desperately trying to stabilise the ship and account for the damage. Meanwhile their comrades were moving into position to shield them from another volley and attempting to drag them out of weapons range in case another salvo was forthcoming. They could only assume the worse. That the forces invading _Celestia_ had somehow managed to gain control of the weapons for a short period. As it turned out another salvo was not forthcoming and the station shields instead came online. It seemed they would not be able to get close enough to attempt a boarding action.

* * *

"How the hell did they get control of our weapons?" Telford yelled. He couldn't believe what he had just seen happen. He couldn't understand how what just happened had even happened.

"Logs indicate fire order was given from the secondary control room sir," said Chen.

"That place was supposed to be shut down!" Telford yelled.

"They seem to have rigged a power source to one of the consoles sir," said Jones.

"I have initiated overrides Colonel," said Celeste before her hologram started flickering. "From what I gather they got lucky and hit the fire control…"

"Celeste what's wrong?"

"Hacking…attempt in…progress," said Celeste, her form now flickering faster. "Core program… being…deleted. Attempting…to block."

"Do whatever it takes Celeste," ordered Telford. "Lock them out of the computer core. Do not allow them access to our systems."

"Isolating…command…pathways," Celeste managed. "Entering…lockdown…mode…sorry…Colonel."

With those final words her hologram vanished and the room was left silent.

"What did she do?" demanded Telford.

"They attempted to delete Celeste's core program and she went into lockdown mode," answered Perkins. "Fail safes dictate we no longer have control of any critical systems from here or the secondary control room until the all clear protocol is initiated. We can still open the doors remotely and talk to our people but that's it."

"Damn it!" Telford swore.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	38. Fighting Back

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: If there's one about stargate that is consistent it's that when they make an enemy they make an _enemy_. These are people that planned galactic domination, they aren't going at this half hearted. **

**BIG Z1776: As the saying goes, it's always darkest before the dawn.**

**AerchAngel: Cruel cliffhangers are fun.**

**Shadows of Realm: It is a shame, but on the bright i get to have one of our guys turn around and say "my station" to whoever is leading this little siege attempt.**

**Cdoctor: I don't think it would work. Admittedly on the lower echelon it can work but Zarin isn't as susceptible i'm afraid.**

* * *

_**Atlantis**_

"How the hell did these people manage to get onboard the most powerful asset we possess?" Jack asked.

"According to the intelligence we have from the fleet there was no sign of any enemy craft and the stargate was definitely active," said Sheppard. "They must have dialled in and gotten a foothold before anyone could stop them and the distress beacon claims a gate room incursion so it seems likely."

Jack sighed. "What's the status of the fleet?"

"Holding position outside of weapons range of the station," answered Sheppard. "They took a nasty hit from those ion cannons, when they hit, but their armour managed to blunt the damage until they got their shields up. A number of people on each of the ships that got hit were injured ranging from light to critical but no fatalities so far. The ships themselves were worse off but nothing a little time spent in a repair yard can't fix."

"Okay now for the important question, who would know the gate address to give it to them?" Jack asked with a frown.

Sheppard and Thor looked at each other.

"There are a number of people," said Thor. "However I doubt most of them would willing give it up. There is one possibility though."

"Go on."

"Minister Jakose," said Thor. "It is my understanding that he and Administrator Woolsey were a key part in the station planning process. It is possible he saw the gate address and committed it to memory."

"You think he cracked under torture," Jack stated.

"He hasn't had the training we have sir," said Sheppard. "And honestly the timing sure is convenient."

"How much of a foothold do they have?" asked Jack.

Sheppard shrugged. "We don't know sir. We know they started at the gate room and have probably worked their way further but we can't say for sure. By now they could have control of anywhere from the gate room to the entire station."

"The fact that they were able to gain control of the ion cannons and shields suggests that they have control of at least one of the stations two control rooms," stated Thor. "However the fact that they stopped firing and that most of the shots missed suggests they were only able to gain control momentarily before they were locked out, presumably by the stations AI."

"Or some of our people," added Sheppard.

"Let's hope both," said Jack. "Okay I want you to start dial the station from Atlantis and then keep going until you gain a lock, eventually they'll need to redial and that's when we'll have them. Tie one of the ZPM's in to the connection and we can get past the thirty eight minute limit."

"Got it sir," said Sheppard. He tapped his ear piece and started talking to McKay.

"Thor buddy I need to call in a marker with the Vanir."

"Of course O'Neill," said Thor. "What do you need?"

"Those Titans are small enough to fit through a stargate right?"

"Yes," Thor said, nodding in understanding. "But they will be unable to make their way through the stations corridors."

"They'll still be able to get through the stargate and into the gate room and if we are going to retake the station we need a foothold."

"I will have one of my ships send for as many as are available," said Thor.

"Thanks buddy," said Jack. "Sheppard prepare to start calling in markers of your own once we have a connection. We don't have the forces on standby in Pegasus to take on a large number of enemy troops."

"With all due respect sir are you sure that's wise?" asked Sheppard. "We still don't know who to trust on this one."

"That's why I said when we have a connection," said Jack. "We don't know who they are now but there is a chance we might find out if we can talk to our people. Somehow I doubt these guys are likely to self destruct in a space station unless they want to try breathing vacuum."

"My own people will be able to assist in combat situations O'Neill," said Thor.

"You sure buddy?" Jack asked, slightly sceptical. The Asgard weren't known for being foot soldiers.

"Our new bodies are more than capable of taking on most opponents and afford us far greater physical capabilities than a regular human," Thor stated. "They may also provide us with a trump card we can use."

"Fair point," admitted Jack. "Okay fine let me know when we have a connection to the station and we'll make a plan."

* * *

**_Celestia_ – Control Room**

"Someone please give me some good news," requested Telford.

Being on the losing side of a siege was not good for ones positivity. The despair was starting to creep in and Telford knew good news was something everyone needed right about now. The enemy had finally broken through the last of the internal doors outside in the areas they occupied and that spelled the end of their shooting fish in a barrel strategy.

"Sir," said Perkins. "I think I have something."

"What?"

Perkins didn't reply, he just typed a few buttons on his console and smiled triumphantly.

Over the speakers came a voice sent from the heavens.

"This is Colonel Sheppard to _Celestia_, does anyone read me?"

Telford immediately pressed the com button.

"This is Colonel Telford on _Celestia_, we read you Colonel Sheppard. It's good to hear your voice."

He and the rest of the control room personnel couldn't help but smile and breathe a sigh of relief.

"Likewise Colonel, what's your current status?"

"The situation isn't very good Colonel," Telford said grimly. "We count over twelve hundred hostiles with only ninety eight soldiers and two hundred civilians on our side, the rest are all enemy prisoners and have been placed in a large cargo bay near the gate room."

"What kind of a foothold do they have over the station?"

"We've managed to keep them out of the main control area, the hangers and engineering. They've taken the gate room, secondary control room and the computer core went into lockdown mode as a result. We have no access to primary systems and the shields are stuck on and we can't switch them off. Oh and don't try coming through that stargate because they have the shield up."

"Have you been able to identify who the hostiles are?"

"No we have not, but there are a few corpses that have yet to be recovered by the enemy. This isn't a question I want to ask but just how much of a priority is this information because I really don't want to put my men at risk like this."

"I'm going to be honest Colonel it is very important so get your men moving to those corpses and grab one now then I'll explain."

"Jones, tell team five to turn around and grab one of those corpses," ordered Telford.

Jones spoke into his headset and the camera changed to show a six man team grinding to a halt and sprinting back the way they came.

"Okay Colonel talk," said Telford.

"As it stands we don't have the man power on hand to fight over a thousand hostiles," explained Sheppard. "We need to call in a marker to get the extra muscle and we need to know who to call."

"You don't know who to trust so you want to know who you can trust," summarised Telford.

"Pretty much."

"Jones where is team five?" Telford asked.

"About to reach the body's sir," said Jones. "I'm opening the door for them."

"Tell them to grab one and run like hell," ordered Telford. "Close every door behind them until they get to a safe spot."

On the display the six members of team five were grabbing the surprisingly heavy corpse of an enemy they had killed only a few minutes ago. Not a moment to soon they left the section and the door slid shut behind them, just as the enemy soldiers broke through the door at the other end of the corridor.

"Doors sealed and force fields in place sir," reported Jones.

"Colonel Sheppard, we have a hostile in hand," reported Telford.

"Nice work, what is he?"

"Jones?"

"Sending instructions now sir."

On the screen team five dropped the corpse they were carrying and starting ripping open the soldier's uniform in an attempt to expose the skin underneath, when dealing with an alien skin colour is usually a good place to start for identification. The layer of leather was ripped away to reveal not skin but a layer of dark armour. Puzzled they started to pull off the creature's helmet turning its head so that its right cheek was facing upwards to gain a better grip. Prying the helmet off they revealed the face of the creature, it had skin like a Wraith and even looked like a Wraith. Turning the creatures head revealed three dead red lights running along the creature's skull. It was undoubtedly a Zarasian foot soldier.

"Son of a bitch," said Sheppard over the com line.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Telford.

"A Zarasian genetically engineered hybrid foot soldier."

"Now we know who to trust."

"Tell your men to gather together and bunker down. With you if possible," ordered Sheppard. "I need to talk to General O'Neill and our allies."

"Understood."

"Oh and Colonel, spread the word. Help is coming."

"Understood," he said with satisfaction.

* * *

"That slimy piece of…" Sheppard trailed off as his anger bubbled over. "He never had any intention of negotiating for peace. He just wanted to make the best of a bad situation."

"It was a cunning plan," admitted Thor. "In the end it seems Zarin gained something much more valuable than the destruction of a single Wraith world."

"It was a trap all along and we walked right into it," yelled Sheppard. "We sat their and ate up his apologies and all the time he was planning on screwing us over."

"Sheppard, take a breath," ordered O'Neill, still in holographic form.

Sheppard did as he was told and took a breath. "Sorry sir."

"Save that anger and put it to good use," ordered O'Neill. "We'll need it if we are going to take back _Celestia_. Now I want you to get on the horn to the Wraith and the Averians and get us some more troops."

"Yes sir," said Sheppard before he turned to leave.

"Thor, that trump card of yours, is it still viable?"

"With the shield up it is our only option," stated Thor.

"Thor, are you sure about this?" asked O'Neill, concerned.

"Do not worry O'Neill I will survive, one way or another."

"Good luck."

* * *

_**Celestia **_

The Zarasian reapers, not that the Tau'ri knew to call them that, had reacted as one would expect to the knowledge that they were no longer going to be getting reinforcements through the stargate. They had immediately activated the shield and the iris around the stargate, having had plenty of time to decipher the controls for those systems. They had then reinforced their position in the gate room, placing large weapons to cover the gate, and removed the large crates they had brought with them. This meant that the jamming device had been moved and wasn't going to be easy to neutralise even if they could get past the shield and iris. Of course the Tau'ri were confident that they could with their allies help.

Speaking of allies they had finally been able to get in contact with their other allies, namely the Wraith and the Averians. Using skilled timing and a long range subspace communications array they had been able to disconnect the connection just a few seconds before _Valley Forge_ dialled in. This freed up the _Atlantis_ gate to call in a favour from the Averians and the Wraith. Both of their allies had strengths and weaknesses and the Tau'ri knew what they were. The Averians had a powerful and numerous fleet but lacked ground troops with any significant combat experience. The Wraith on the other hand had large but slightly fragile ships in small numbers but every one of their species possessed physical strengths that made them dangerous opponents. Echidna agreed to send Todd and a thousand Wraith soldiers to help liberate the station while the Averians would muster ships to guard the Wraith worlds in case the Zarasians tried to attack again. Meanwhile the Asgard/Tau'ri fleet would try to track down the Zarasian fleet and hopefully take steps towards recovering the missing Averians in process. At the very least they hoped to apprehend Zarin allowing for the possibility of a prisoner exchange.

It should be noted though that while the Tau'ri did have a sizeable number of troops of their own available for this mission, a little over three hundred in fact, they knew they wouldn't be able to take on an enemy battalion without some serious assistance. Arguably it was actually possible since each member was equipped with tempest battle armour but it would mean they would suffer some serious casualties in doing so. A number of Titans, even if they couldn't make it past the gate room, and a thousand Wraith warriors would make all the difference.

In a sealed and hidden room not on the official plans a piece of purely Asgard technology, that no crewman aboard knew how to operate, received a subspace signal and came out of a low powered state and went to full power. With the advanced computer system online and in operation other pieces of complicated machinery in the room now came into operation. Automated construction technology was something the Asgard had mastered long ago and matter synthesis technology allowed for much more compact construction machines. Six of these devices were present in the small room.

Against a wall and set into the floor and ceiling were two disks generating an anti gravity suspension field. Surrounding the top disc was a single thick metallic band with crystals lining the inside attached to a glowing red rod set into the wall behind the discs. These three pieces of technology were the only apparent components of the Asgard automated construction devices. As the five devices powered up the crystals lining the inside of the bands began to glow as power flowed into them. Generated from pure energy a shape started to form inside the band as the band lowered to the bottom disc before rising to the top again, constantly moving up and down. As the metallic skeletal form took shape in each of the fields the bands stilled and the computer sent a new set of instructions to the assemblers in accordance with the signal it had received. The assemblers discarded their standard template for the structure of the android bodies they were building and used a specialised design from the computers memory banks. Most Asgard used the standard android body design which was strong, fast and quite tough, certainly more than so than their former bodies were even before genetic degradation started to take its toll. In this instance though the five android bodies being produced were a combat variant meant for use by their military and security forces. In terms of base technology for the mechanics of the bodies the two designs were identical, allowing for the same incredible strength and speed that all Asgard now possessed. But while the now standard bodies possessed the same skin as Sovaer, which was a combination of living tissue and spider silk, the combat variants had a skin similar to the fabric layer of tempest armour. Much like tempest armour the silk and carbon nanotube weave had inset naquadah/trinium armour plating to afford the Asgard with even better protection. This gave them a rather menacing appearance and made them look like cyborgs, compared to their standard organic appearance, with the dark plating seemingly fused into their now black flesh. The combat forms were also equipped with built in weaponry as standard and for close combat the fingers ended in atomic edged trinium claws. In addition the Asgard had taken a page from the Goa'uld book of weaponry, placing a shockwave emitter in each palm, and since they looked like Kull warriors anyway mounted a plasma repeater on each wrist. The memory of what the replicators would do to the Asgard crew of the ships they boarded was still quite fresh in the memory of most Asgard, with Thor having first hand experience, and as such they were making sure that combat forms would be lethal in their function. These bodies were both power and resource intensive to produce, taxing the small Asgard designed power generator and making the construction of anymore than six unfeasible, especially with the time constraints. In fact it took the entirety of the time that was spent marshalling the Wraith forces at _Atlantis_ to produce the android bodies.

The room had originally been added to the design of the station by the agreement of Thor and General O'Neill so that the Asgard would have a nearby download point in the event of the destruction of one of their ships in the void between galaxies. No one had thought the room would be needed, which is why it was kept locked down, but it was better to be safe than sorry. When the bodies were complete a subspace signal was received by the computer core through the stargate, indicating the destruction of android bodies, and the consciousnesses of six Asgard were received and placed within their respective bodies. The six Asgard downloading into new bodies were Thor, Freyja, Brynhildr, Eir, Hrund and Mist.

For this special mission Thor had required only the best and to the Asgard the best meant the valkyries. In the old days, before genetic degradation had meant their bodies became smaller and frailer, the valkyries had been an armed response group. The legends of them being all female were true, when Freyja had originally formed the group she had only recruited female Asgard to the cause. Tau'ri mythology though had demoted them from taking part in battles to merely carrying away the souls of the fallen. Mythology did however suggest that the valkyries decided who lived and who died in a battle, which was true. But with the humans limited scope on the events in the universe Tau'ri history didn't mention that they usually did so by personally ending or sparing lives as their mission directed. Now that they once again had bodies which were combat capable they had been training to resume their role as the Asgard ground forces. Each of the valkyries names had specific meanings that reflected their personal fighting styles, something which would become apparent in the coming battle.

Having already planned out what they were going to do there was no need for them to speak. Each member had a set task and they would carry it out. Walking up to the door Thor placed his palm against the reader panel and the door slid open. Stepping through the entrance they made their way through the halls in silence. Courtesy of their robotic brains their vision was enhanced by a heads up display which included readings from a built in life signs detector, being in an android body had its advantages. Using the life signs readings they were able to avoid the roving groups of reapers and slip past them undetected, of course it helped that they were inside the enemy lines already. Slowly they made their way closer to the secondary control room avoiding any reapers in the vicinity until eventually the number of life signs ahead numbered in the hundreds and they could go no further whilst remaining undetected. So they stopped, bunkered down and stayed out of sight and they waited.

What they were waiting for came to pass very quickly, monitoring the life signs readings the numbers dropped from hundreds to only a couple of dozen. To the Asgard hiding away this might seem strange, so many troops suddenly moving elsewhere surely had to be a trap to make them think their target was vulnerable to a surprise attack. But the Asgard knew the reason for so many troops moving away was because all ninety eight of the tempest armour clad Tau'ri had come together and launched an all out attack against the reapers in a section near the secondary control room. This meant that the reapers had been forced to move their troops away from the secondary control room to hold their lines against the security forces attack.

Knowing this window of opportunity would only last for a short time the Asgard descended on the control room at a flat out run. The Tau'ri SF's would have to withdraw as the reaper hoard descended upon them. The location of this attack had been carefully planned, it was close enough to allow the reapers guarding the control room to reposition themselves to stall the attack but far enough from the other clusters to mean that group would be stuck there until reinforcements arrived from the surrounding sections. In the mean time the Tau'ri were pushing their attack, penetrating deeper and deeper into reaper controlled territories, then when they slammed into the oncoming reaper hoard they would stall and pull back just slowly enough to lure them into chasing after them.

Stalking down the corridors the six Asgard approached the outer perimeter of reapers. Ahead of them and around the next turning were four reapers, or as far as the valkyries were concerned four future corpses. At a run they surged around the corner, Freyja and her valkyries at the head of the pack. The reapers barely had time to even turn around before they were mowed down by a hail of plasma repeater bolts. As their scorched and pot marked bodies crumpled to the decking the Asgard flew past, they hadn't even bothered to slow down. With the reaper perimeter breached it was on to the secondary control room. Rounding another corner they came face to face with four more reapers, standing amidst the twisted and scorched debris that had once been the solid metal door for the control room beyond. Using their gathered momentum they charged at them, closing the gap in moments. Eir and Thor held back as the rest of the valkyries went to work on their enemy. Hrund simply pounced and then repeatedly stabbed at her enemy's midsection using her clawed hands, while Mist ducked and dodged the oncoming plasma rounds before returning fire. Freyja and Brynhildr meanwhile opted to pound their enemy into submission with shockwaves from the crystals in their palms, causing the reapers to slam back against the wall with a sickening crunch, before firing their own volley of plasma bolts until they were confident their enemy had been slain.

Continuing on they charged into the control room, felling the two more reapers standing just inside the room. Following up, with Eir behind him, Thor quickly took in the situation around him, the reapers were all dead and the control room had been cleared of enemy soldiers. But what remained was a small power generator that had been jerry rigged into the control consoles and a cowering human wearing the enemy's uniform.

With a gesture Thor signalled the other valkyries to leave and take up defensive positions. Seeing the dark spectre seemingly walk by him as if he wasn't there the human decided to make a break for it, dodging past Eir and running for the clear entranceway as if the hounds of hell were behind him. Thor's response was to casually turn round and fire a plasma bolt into the fleeing mans leg before he could even make it out of the room, causing him to collapse screaming in pain.

"Eir," Thor ordered.

Eir immediately went over the injured human and immediately raised her hand to the humans injured leg. The human immediately paled as the dark spectre approached and began desperately pleading for his life when the thing raised its hand, revealing a glowing crystal. But instead of the increase in pain that he expected he was surprised when his overall pain actually lessened and widened his eyes in shock when the things hand moved away and revealed his now uninjured leg. The human was rendered speechless as the thing moved away to stand guard by the door. Instead of the regular shockwave emitters that the other Asgard possessed Eir, as the group's combat medic, had been fitted with a pair of Goa'uld healing devices.

"If you try to escape again I will not have your next wound healed," said Thor calmly, while examining a console. "The Tau'ri, the owners of this station, have rules regarding prisoners of war that say they cannot be tortured. However my people do not have such rules and you are not a Tau'ri prisoner at the moment, you are mine."

"Who…who are you?" the human managed despite his fear.

Thor turned away from the console and looked down at the cowering human.

"We are friends of the Tau'ri."

The human instantly paled in shock at the dark creature's words that hinted at horrors that had been unknowingly unleashed upon his people.

As an after thought Thor reached down and plucked the forgotten sidearm the human wore from its holster, examining the weapon before bending the barrel and rendering it useless.

Thor turned back to the console typing in command codes. It was easy for the Asgard to navigate his way through the stations systems since he had, after all, had a hand in designing it. Entering his personal access code he overrode the computer core lockdown allowing for full access to the stations controls once again. As a safety precaution he shut down the weapons and shields before cutting power to the gate room. He then accessed communications and sent a message through the open stargate.

It occurred to him that the AI installed would need to be adjusted or most likely even entirely replaced with the more advanced version being utilised on the Tau'ri warships. The version they had installed was effectively just a basic monitoring version until a more advanced version could be installed or extra command protocols could be added. The current version could follow commands and would react if the crew's lives were ever in any danger but hadn't known to react to the stun wave or the unwanted guests. Clearly that problem would need to be fixed once all this was over, assuming they were able to successfully retake the station.

* * *

**_Celestia_ – Gate Room**

With main power cut the entire room was pitch black until the emergency back up generators automatically kicked in, and the room was lit by dim red lighting. Even without main power life support and the gravity plating remained online but the shield surrounding the gate remained offline. The hundred reapers present immediately raised their weapons and turned six large plasma cannons towards the stargate even though the iris was still closed. With their gaze focused on the stargate they completely failed to notice the Titan beam in behind them. The transport pillar mounted in the ceiling still worked even with the disruptor active and main power down but the shield around the stargate had been blocking the signal, but not anymore.

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**Please Review.**


	39. Foothold established

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Thor is one of my favourite characters as well. Given what we've seen this guy do in a degrading clone body i'm worried about not doing the guy justice with a powerful android body, the guy was already bad ass to begin with. Its rather ironic because now Zarin is going to be asking the same question they were, how did they get on this station?**

**BIG Z1776: They haven't had to fight large scale ground battles before so the option has never really occured to them. They might have considered something like the Titans later down the road but the Asgard beat them to it.**

**AerchAngel: Don't mention it. It was an issue that needed clarifying so thanks for pointing it out. **

**Shadows of Realm: Expect the unexpected and i bet they didn't expect that.**

**Cdoctor: Vala had her work cut out for her with Daniel, since they met when she was hijacking the Prometheus. Besides it worked eventually.**

**Andriabow: Todays lesson, don't mess with the Asgard or the machines they build.**

**Oddliver: Well if you do feel like writing a very long review i would very much enjoy reading it.**

**SkywalkerT-65: If you like this then you will love New Dawn and its sequel Aphelion, both of which i highly recomend. The Furlings i have ideas for and i may get round to including them at some point.**

**s-david-m: The Asgard didn't go for physical combat when we saw them because their bodies had massive degraded over the years, as shown by the fact that they were much shorter than their ancestors. Also having been at the mercy of replicator boarding actions i imagine they would want something that would allow them to defend themselves, and remember these are the pure combat body versions which are meant to get stuck in. Finally those disintegration beams were in fact offensive beam transporters, which aren't mountable on android bodies, so plasma weapons and claws are rather all they have available.**

* * *

**_Celestia_ – Gate Room**

Powering up its twin energy beam cannons the Titan fired straight forward, burning through several reapers before impacting the iris. The naquadah/trinium alloy held briefly against the continuous onslaught before liquefying under the intense heat of the beam. By the time the beams capacitors ran out of power the entire iris had been completely obliterated.

Before the reapers could fire on the Titan though the pilot fired its boosters and leaped back, landing against the far wall. The pilot quickly raised the battlesuits bubble shield to defend against the oncoming onslaught from the angered reapers. The foot soldiers had remained facing the stargate, waiting for the oncoming charge to emerge while the plasma cannons turned to fire at the Titan, and one enterprising individual had shot the transport pillar emitter. Knowing what was coming its way the Titan had deployed its new barrier shield design and hunkered down to weather the storm. As the plasma blasts struck the shield, causing it to flare white, the pilot inside monitored the power levels and noted that continuous fire would eventually cause the shield to fail even with the strength of the field having automatically adjusted. It didn't matter though since help would soon be coming through the stargate.

The reapers had been expecting a tide of enemy soldiers to emerge through the stargate and yet no such threat emerged. Instead the event horizon didn't even flicker and no incoming traveller emerged. Then it happened. From the open stargate came a never ending hail storm of light blue energy bolts, emerging like individual pellets fired from a shotgun and spreading out to engulf the amassed reapers. As the hell storm continued to rain down on them the front rank of reapers quickly fell and the back ranks scattered in an attempt to get out of the way of fire that would soon reach them. Then suddenly the wave of bolts ceased.

Warily the surviving reapers moved around the stargate, callously leaving the wounded and dying where they lay on the floor and making no move to help them. They were tasked with guarding the stargate and preventing any enemy that emerged from surviving long enough to threaten them. It was a mission they would attempt to complete with every fibre of their being. There was no camaraderie between them, only the mission was what mattered. If others had to die for that mission to be completed then so be it, it did not matter to them. So to complete this mission they positioned themselves so that they were outside of the arc of the stargate if any more energy blasts were to emerge. What the reapers did not know though was that the Titan, which was still taking fire from the plasma cannons, was watching the moves they made and reporting them.

Instead of another volley what emerged from the stargate were three discs, which landed on the floor with a resounding clunk. As soon as they hit the ground a hissing sound was heard and a type of visible gas sprayed out of them, quickly spreading over the gathered reapers. It mattered not to the reapers since their helmets would prevent the presumably poisonous gas from affecting them. Of course what they did not realise was that the gas was not in fact poisonous but highly flammable, but before they had the chance to figure that out two small pillars had emerged from the discs, a spark had leapt between them and it was already far too late. The gas ignited and the surviving reapers were engulfed in fire, the heat burning them alive where they stood but not killing them all alright. Some ran around while others rolled on the ground, howling at the pain, the liquid vapour having seeped into their clothing before being set alight. Then from the stargate emerged the enemy they had been waiting for, with a group of four ten foot tall Titans making up the first wave. The metallic warrior's mercilessly poured plasma bolts into the surviving reapers as they moved away from the stargate to make way for the next wave of troops. The Titans would be followed by three hundred tempest armour clad soldiers of the Tau'ri who in turn would be followed by a thousand Wraith warriors. The Wraith warriors were not armed with stunners alone, their weapons having long ago been modified to better suit their needs. Their pistols now had the option of stun or kill, while their spear rifles and cannons now only had a kill option, with the latter being much more powerful than the former. It was the Wraith who had fired the opening volley through the stargate and they had used these weapons to fell so many reapers.

As these allied forces began to pour out of the open stargate the Titans advanced into the large room slaughtering the charred, but still alive, reapers. As they continued deeper into the room they turned their attention to their comrade who was still taking fire from the six plasma cannons. His shield was still holding but it wouldn't last for much longer as plasma bolt after plasma bolt continued to pound into the shield. Luckily though help was at hand and it came in the form of four Titans launching themselves bodily at the cannons, leaving the Tau'ri to mop up the remaining reapers. The plasma cannons were large turret like objects, and even featured a seat for the single operator meaning that said operator was insulated from fire from behind. The Titans though merely saw this as a reason to get up close and personal with the enemy for a change and they had no qualms with that. Rushing forward with speed that seemed greater than their massive bulk would allow the four Titans spread out and each targeted a turret towards the walls of the room, leaving the two in the middle alone for the moment. Subtly wasn't something these suits were designed for and their pilots didn't certainly didn't feel the need for it. There was an enemy in front of them and a comrade under attack so they knew exactly what they had to do. Appearing like metallic demons behind the cannons they wrapped both arms around the operators chairs, grabbed said operators in their large metallic hands and simply squeezed for a few seconds before dropping the leaking remains to the ground. Noting what had happened to their doppelgangers the remaining two cannon operators relentlessly continued to fire on their target in the hoping of killing it before they succumbed to the same fate. As the Titans approached them it was interesting to note that if they were capable of such an emotion then would have certainly felt fear. Instead they only felt a hint of disappointment as they suffered a similar fate to their doppelgangers and failed to complete their task of defending the gate room.

As the Titans secured the entrance and established a foothold the Tau'ri soldiers dealt with the reaper survivors that were simply refusing to die despite being literally burned alive. There wasn't any resistance though, the reapers having been cooked to the point where the only thing keeping them alive was the resilience granted to them by the Wraith part of their hybrid DNA. It was arguably a mercy killing, putting them out of their misery rather than taking them as captives and forcing them to live on in this state. A part of the Tau'ri warriors actually felt pity for the creatures. They had been created as mindless slaves to fight and die as their masters commanded. And yet they were not really mindless at all, they were simply individuals that had their individuality suppressed and had been turned into living puppets. Their world had many faults but even still they could see that such things were just plain wrong. They knew that it was pointless to hate the reapers. No, they turned their anger on the ones that deserved their hatred, the puppet masters, the deceivers and the betrayers, the Zarasians. They had invaded their station, taken their people captive and killed their comrades. Revenge would be swift and they would personally deal it out to the enemy.

With the reapers present neutralised the first priority was securing their position against external threats, though with five Titans standing in front of the door they felt pretty secure. Taking control of the gate control room wasn't deemed a priority at the moment since they still had an incoming wormhole established and with the power still cut the control room was useless anyway. With three hundred soldiers in tempest battle armour taking up position to push further into the station and a thousand Wraith warriors currently marching through the stargate to support them they felt relatively safe. Corridor fighting inside a space station though meant they were somewhat limited in what weapons they could use against the enemy. There was always the risk of an explosion breaching the hull and opening them out into space, and while the Tau'ri could survive that in their armour their allies and any civilians they encountered could not. Arguably the energy cannons that the Wraith had brought with them was pushing it as far as some were concerned, those things seemed powerful and while a single shot wasn't going to make it through the hull a number of them theoretically might. Not that anyone was actually willing to test that theory at the moment but maybe later in the firing range they would get to put those weapons to the test, after all this was over.

As it stood they outmatched the enemy in terms of numbers and firepower, although the latter was a rough estimate. As Colonel Sheppard looked around at the gathered troops he shared a look with Todd. Despite the time and energy it had taken to pull it off clearing the gate room had actually been the easy part of the operation. The hard part would be clearing this infestation out of every other part of the station.

* * *

_**Hope**_

The station had been on high alert since the news of the summit with the Zarasians had reached them. But now they had been informed that the perpetrators behind the kidnapping of the Minister and his bodyguard were in fact the Zarasians themselves. Needless to say Admiral Xander did not take that particular piece of news very well, however he did have an idea of how to find them.

Walking into the control room he immediately started issuing orders.

"Push our deep space sensors to their maximum range and then further," he ordered. "Forget searching for any physical objects and focus entirely on subspace signals, then narrow the bandwidth to the frequency of our emergency beacons and focus that even further to Sovaer's frequency."

"Sir," said one of the sensor operators. "That'll really tax the sensors and leave us effectively blind to anything else."

"It doesn't matter," Xander replied. "The ships we have here can monitor the surrounding area for us and it's very unlikely for a hostile to suddenly appear anyway."

"Besides," he continued. "Even with the Tau'ri and the Asgard out their searching and I am not going to just sit here and do nothing. Their own sensors may have a far greater sensitivity than ours do but this is something we can do to help that can might just make a real difference."

"Yes sir."

"I want you to make use of all the available power we have," Xander ordered. "The sensors have priority over everything, and I mean everything. Life support is the only other thing I want still running, as of now all other operations on this station are on hold."

"Yes sir."

Throughout the station alarms sounded, warning the crew the personnel that the station was about to go into low power mode. Only one system would be operating at above minimal levels, and in most cases at all, the sensors. Drawing on every last volt of power they could the sensors recalibrated and began scanning deep space for the weakest of signals from Sovaer's emergency beacon. They couldn't know for sure if it was even active but they were sure as hell going to try to find it if it was.

With that order of business out of the way Xander gave one final order.

"Have my ship made ready to leave at a moments notice," he ordered.

If they were able to track down that signal then he was personally going to make sure that the Minister and bodyguard got home safely.

* * *

_**Celestia**_

The plan had been sound. Not without risk of failure certainly but sound nonetheless. But like the best laid schemes of mice and men things don't always turn out the way you want to. Arguably the plan had worked. The ninety eight members of the still standing station security force had executed a precision counter attack on the reaper lines and lured away the defence force around the secondary control room. That much was obvious after several hundred reapers had come bearing down on them and they had, as was the plan, been forced to retreat. The reapers had then followed in an attempt to wipe out the pests that had been assailing them since the incursion had begun and the SF's had slowed their retreat so they would keep following. What they hadn't been expecting, but in hindsight probably should have, was the additional forces that moved in on either side of them in an attempt to encircle them in a pincer move. Unfortunately it had managed to work. Instead of moving across to meet their attack head on the two smaller reaper forces had left that to the larger while they moved forwards and then across to pincer them. Sneaky tactics are a wonderful thing to use but it's really annoying when the enemy start using them as well.

They were pinned down across several cross junctions desperately trying to fall back while the enemy kept in step with every move they made while they continued to take fire from the enemy. Having had to move to take on the enemy assaulting them from their flanks they now found themselves spread out in a bow formation. They had started out with ninety eight men and women on their side while the enemy had initially consisted of nearly three hundred. Then an additional twenty five had appeared on their flank and they had desperately tried to react to the threat, only for another twenty five to appear on their opposite flank. To make matters worse the main reaper force had then launched an all out charge against them while they distracted. All in all they were not having a good day. With their forces spread out thinly their co-ordination was effectively shot and the plan was looking more and more unlikely to succeed, from their point of view at least. They didn't know how the Asgard task force was faring but the knowledge that they had to keep the enemy occupied just long enough for the Asgard to retake the secondary control room and then for help to arrive. It wasn't looking good for them in either case. Thanks to that pincer move they had lost nearly half their forces through injuries severe enough to take them out of the fight or in some cases death. To make matters worse they didn't even know how many of the enemy they had managed to eliminate but it was suspected at least a quarter. Even if they managed to hold out long enough for the Asgard to succeed it was starting to look unlikely that they would be able to survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive. In the heat of battle seconds seem like hours and it was very easy to lose track of time. They couldn't say how long they had been fighting or how far away reinforcements were and right now they wouldn't want to know in any case. If they relaxed for even a moment because they thought help would soon be nearby then that brief moment of weakness could cost them their lives, and they had lost so many already.

For now all they could do was hold their position and force back the enemy. The flank attacks may have caught them off guard but they had been dealt with now and they were just about surviving.

* * *

The valkyries were currently working hard to earn a reputation, or rather re-earn one that had been forgotten over the years. Moving swiftly through the stations corridors they set about hunting down the remainder of the reapers assigned to guarding the control room. They knew that there were twenty remaining, and that was just the ones nearby since reinforcements would no doubt be bearing down on them sooner rather than later. They would have to take care of these ones first though and then deal with the rest later. These few would be easier to kill while they were scattered than if they managed to gather together and in the long run every enemy they managed to kill now could end up deciding the direction this battle took.

Knowing their individual capabilities were more than enough to neutralise the opposition they faced and that time was of the essence Hrund, Mist, Freyja and Brynhildr hunted their prey alone while Eir stayed with Thor to keep an eye on their prisoner. The Supreme Commanders instructions had been clear on that, humans were to be taken alive for questioning while the reapers were to be killed on sight. The means used to accomplish these instructions however were entirely up to the valkyries to decide upon. Since each valkyrie favoured their own style of combat the results were accomplished but in a varied manner. If anyone were to come across the bodies of the reapers they would certainly not imagine that a single foe had been solely responsible for the carnage unleashed. Mist would weave between her foes before striking them down, Hrund would poke them full of holes, Freyja would charge at her enemies and beat them into the deck plating while Brynhildr would mow the reapers down with plasma blasts and shockwaves. Between them the reapers were cut down in no time at all and once the last one fell they reunited back outside the secondary control room just in time to meet a group of four reapers escorting another human who happened to be wearing a Zarasian uniform.

The moment they stepped round the corner the valkyries leapt on them like cats hunting mice. Mist sprinted forwards and around the escorts to the human, her inhuman speed meant that her momentum as she slammed into him took his feet off the ground before sending him sprawling to the ground. The bodyguards moved to react only to be struck down by the barrage of plasma fire from the others while the human remained unharmed, having been protected by Mist. Grabbing the shaken and slightly bruised human by the collar Mist dragged him to his original destination, the secondary control room.

"You might want to check this one over Eir," she said as she deposited him in a heap against one of the bulkheads.

"Report," ordered Thor.

"All enemy forces in the vicinity have been neutralised Supreme Commander," Mist stated. "We came across a group of four enemy soldiers escorting this one to the control room. As per your orders we killed the soldiers and captured this one alive, although he may have acquired some bruises and a few broken bones at the worst."

Thor nodded. "Good work. Return to the others."

"Yes sir," Mist said before turning and leaving.

"How is he?" Thor asked.

Eir, who was examining the human with her hand healing devices, didn't even bother to look up.

"He has a bruises along his ribcage but nothing life threatening," she said. "He'll live even if I do nothing."

She looked at him. "Do you want me to do nothing?"

"No," said Thor. "Heal him and then leave him where he is. When you are done I will have some questions for him."

Thor walked over to the other prisoner. The scared human shrank back against the bulkhead as he approached.

"What is your name human?" he asked.

"I don't have to tell you anything," he stammered before his voice became more firm. "I'm not going to tell you anything."

"Why not?" Thor asked innocently.

The human blinked. The question and the tone it was spoken in having caught him by surprise.

"I answered your questions earlier so why won't you answer mine?" Thor asked.

The human said nothing, still surprised at the casual nature of the conversation he seemed to be having with this terrifying alien.

"Well then if you won't tell me your name why don't we start with something easier? I think it is pretty obvious that you are a Zarasian yes?"

The human nodded slowly.

"And that your purpose here is obviously to take over this station, yes?"

The human nodded.

"And judging by the fact that you were working on the consoles you must be a technician, yes?"

The human nodded.

"And you were sent here by Zarin after he captured the Averian leader, yes?

The human nodded without thinking, before his eyes widened in shock.

Thor smiled down at him. "Thank you for your co-operation."

Thor walked over to the console and accessed internal communications.

"Colonel Sheppard," he said. "It seems our suspicions were correct. Minister Jakose was indeed taken captive by Zarin and it is likely he is with the Zarasian fleet."

"Thanks for the heads up Thor," said Sheppard. "We'll deal with the pests here and then what say we go hunting for that fleet of theirs?"

"It will be a pleasure Colonel," replied Thor.

"You'll never take back this station," said the other Zarasian.

Thor turned to look at him.

"Is that what you really think?" he asked.

The Zarasian stared at him defiantly. "Once reinforcements get here you'll be dealt with and this pathetic attempt of yours will be finished before it has even begun."

Thor cocked his head.

"So you're someone with a little more authority then," he stated. "Well then you should know that we began some time ago."

"Preposterous," the human spat. "You are all alone and when the reapers come for you you'll die."

"I think the reapers will soon be too busy to deal with us," said Thor.

The human narrowed his eyes.

"What have you done?" he demanded.

"Opened the door to your doom," Thor replied cryptically.

* * *

_**Hope**_

"Sir," said one of the sensor operators. "We have something."

Xander looked up at him, thinking it was about time.

"What is it?" he asked, just managing to keep the urgency out of his voice.

"We detected a brief spike on the sensors, it was faint but there was definitely something there."

"Narrow the sensor sweep to that area," he ordered.

"We've got it sir, definitely one of ours but not as strong as before. It's barely registering on the sensors."

"Must have been a power surge, otherwise we never would have detected it," Xander surmised. "Keep an eye on it and transmit those co-ordinates to our allies. You know where I'll be."

"Aye sir."

With that he walked out of the control room and headed to his ship.

* * *

The SF's were starting to get worried, the reapers with their unyielding nature were beginning to get closer and closer to making a hole in their lines. If that were to happen it would divide them and their forces would begin to crumble as they faced attack from multiple angles. The enemy they faced was terrifying in their utter fearlessness at charging right at them and each time they did that they were only just pushed back. Another push and they might even break through. No one wanted to consider that possibility so they just focused on making sure it didn't happen.

At the very edge of the line one small group of six fighters were holding back a tide of reapers from taking the intersection and they knew it was only a matter of time. They were starting to lose hope as another wave of reapers charged right at them, even in the temperature regulated suits the SF's were starting to sweat under the pressure.

"We can't hold this position," one of them yelled over the battle net.

"We don't have a choice," another yelled back.

One of the high ranking SF's decided to join in the conversation.

"Focus on killing the enemy that's right in front of…" he started to yell before the words died in his throat as the wave of reapers charging at them were obliterated in explosions.

"What the hell?" someone whispered.

"Heads up boys and girls," said a voice over the battle net. "Help has arrived."

From a turn off along the corridor a lone figure clad in tempest battle armour emerged from the smoke with a very large rifle being held in its hands and pointed at the reapers still standing. Without hesitating the figure fired the rifle and a solid smoking projectile went whizzing towards the assembled reapers before exploding in the middle of the group. When the smoke from the air burst grenade settled there were a lot of dead enemy soldiers.

Behind the lone ranger came a wave of other soldiers, each of them wearing tempest battle armour, but what really surprised the SF's was the Wraith warriors that followed. The lone figure lowered his XM25 rifle and surveyed the scene around him, nodding to the SF's.

"This is Colonel John Sheppard to the security forces of _Celestia_," said the same voice over the battle net. "We are taking back this station."

* * *

**Please Review.**

**On my profile page is a new poll regarding a potential future project. If people want me to then i will go ahead with it so please check it out after reading this.**


	40. Different kinds of heat

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Well if you like that then you should approve of the opening to this chapter. I'm pleased i managed to pull that off okay, its a lot different when its being read rather than heard and seen.**

**BIG Z1776: They need to have a world somewhere since they would need to base their starting infrastructure on a planet after they were exiled. I have many rules when it comes to the Asgard, an important one is don't mess with Thor. **

**Shadows of Realm: They haven't won the battle yet, just a few small skirmishes. Remember there are a lot more reapers present that they have yet to even encounter let alone beat.**

**Cdoctor: Thank you very much.**

**QP: Well i am happy to provide you with this one and many more after.**

**Osced: Well, that group of guys got rescued.**

**romanhellhound: The troops needed something to give them a boost. The enemy coming down on them being blown to hell seemed appropriate.**

**Ruby Pena: Thank you.**

**SkywalkerT-65: Glad i could inspire. The Titans are one of my favourite creations and one of the funnest toys to play with.**

* * *

_**Hope**_

In the space between two docking arms rested a single vessel. Or rather a single vessel occupied the space between two docking arms. At 1500 metres long, 350 metres wide and 300 metres high the ship was incapable of docking inside the station she had been constructed at. This ship was under the sole command of Admiral Xander and he had overseen its completion since the initial design plans were first drawn up.

Being a high ranking officer having taken part in numerous projects over the years Alec knew a masterpiece when he saw one. He had been lucky enough to be given a look at the new weapons options that the Tau'ri had designed for their F-302's and they were certainly very impressive. The F-302's bomb bay had been retrofitted to hold two rotating launchers for the Tau'ri equivalent of drone weapons which featured two drones every ninety degrees for a total of sixteen, nicknamed naquadah potassium drones or NPD's for short. The hard points now carried LAU-61C/A rocket pods, with each one containing Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System missiles modified with drone guidance and propulsion systems and fitted with naquadah-potassium warheads, nicknamed fireflies. Or alternatively they could be fitted with saber missiles, which were just much larger versions of the fireflies and packed a much bigger bang. All of these were optional though and the only permanently mounted new weapon on the craft was the free electron laser mounted on the crafts underbelly in a capsule, similar to the RAH-66 Comanche. One thing that was going to be fitted on all past and future fighter craft though was the modified tempest battle armour suits the flight crew were equipped with, minus the heavy armour but retaining the hazardous environment protection the suits offered. They had even had the rather cunning idea of linking the suits HUD to the fighter's onboard sensor and targeting systems. But even given these advancements he would still rather have this one ship design than all of those new weapons and system upgrades.

In a word the ship was a monster, in another word it was a warship and a dedicated one at that. Unlike every other combat vessel the Averians had designed this particular ship didn't carry a single fighter craft, in fact it was limited to four small hanger bays dedicated to holding shuttle craft. The ship was the product of years of design work towards a singe aim, creating a vessel that would hit an enemy hard and fast. This Averian combat philosophy originated from the years spent planning to take on the Wraith. They knew they faced an enemy that liked to field overwhelming numbers to eventually pound an opponent into submission when they were forced to stick around to fight. The only counter to this would be to create vessels capable of delivering amounts of firepower in a single volley to dispatch an enemy as quickly as possible. Working towards that aim they had created their modular combat and transport vessels as well and finally the Aror class. Even given the less advanced technology being utilised by the Averians the ship was arguably tougher ton for ton than the Tau'ri Pegasus class since her shield strength was on par with the Pegasus class. This however wasn't what made the ship conform to the initial design aim, what did that was the sheer number of weapons mounted on her hull. Mounted on the nose of the ship were four plasma beams and a single heavy plasma beam, which was twice the size and yield of the smaller versions, and in support of these were six heavy plasma cannons which lowered into the hull.

But the true strength of the ship though came from the devastating broadsides that she was capable of unleashing on an enemy fleet. Each side of the warship featured a huge number of weapons dedicated to a single facing. Along the top and bottom of the ship were another twenty heavy plasma cannons divided into two sets of five by two. Also split into two groups of two by four were sixteen weapon nests similar to those featured on the other Averian ships, with each one consisting of four plasma cannons and fourteen missile launchers. Each weapon nest retracted into the hull when not in use and would be covered in thick armour plating, which also meant that they could be charged while hidden beneath the armour for a potential surprise attack. The ability to hide the majority of its weapons out of sight actually made the ship seem relatively harmless when it wasn't in a combat situation. But that image would quickly vanish when the ship opened up with a broadside of twenty heavy plasma cannons, forty eight plasma cannons and two hundred and twenty four missiles firing in a single volley. The words plasma storm have never seemed more appropriate.

The ship was named the _Kalen Aror_, and had been nicknamed the Aror class by their Tau'ri allies. Alec couldn't help but smile at that, this ship could certainly roar alright. The name came from a leading figure in Averian history. Kalen Aror had been the Averians very first Minister once the form of a united planetary government had been established and had been instrumental in shaping the Averian government into what it now was. Fighting against those who doubted that unity was best for the people he had striven night and day to prove them wrong and forge a political regime that would weather the test of time long after he departed from office, not to mention the world of the living, and he had succeeded. It was strongly argued by many that if it were not for the tireless efforts of this one man Averia might be a very different world entirely.

The lack of fighter's aside the ship even had a completely different layout to the rest of the Averian fleet. The ships bridge doubled as a CIC and was located in the very heart of the ship to protect it from harm. In this room filled with monitoring equipment and dominated by a massive holographic generating table in the centre of the room Alec could watch an entire battle play out before him in high definition and co-ordinate an entire armada of ships. Currently displayed across on the holographic table was a star chart displaying the region where the emergency beacon had been detected, their present location and the location of the joint Tau'ri and Asgard fleet. Thanks to the tip off their allies were now altering their course to head to the location of the beacon. By pushing the engines a little they should be able to arrive at about the same time as their allies. What they would find when they arrived though was questionable, but that question could not be answered here.

"Helm, take us out," he ordered.

"Aye sir."

The umbilical's linking her to the station having been severed the _Aror_ powered her large sublight engines and slowly coasted out from between the two station arms. As she slowly gained momentum her velocity eventually rapidly increased and in less than a minute the ship was clear of the arms altogether and soaring through open space. Her body banked gracefully with an ease that defied her speed as she set her heading. Bringing her powerful hyperdrive online a hyperspace window burst into existence and in a flash of light to indicate its closure the mighty warship was on her way.

He would have liked to take an entire battle group with him but Alec knew that he couldn't uncover the stations defences when they had already been reduced in order to guard the Wraith worlds. Besides the combat variants lacked the speed of the _Aror_ and would only slow him down.

* * *

"That was lucky wasn't it," said Oma.

"Indeed it was," said Morgan while looking pointedly at Janus who was looking the other way.

"What are the odds of a freak power surge boosting the signal just enough for the sensors on Hope to pick it up?" she went on.

"Not very high certainly," said Oma.

"Oh I don't know," said Janus, still not looking at either of them. "Bouncing around in that vent could have caused any amount of damage to the inner workings."

"Is that right?" asked Morgan sarcastically.

"Indeed," said Janus. "It's truly amazing what the effects of random chance can lead to. Of course that power surge probably drained a fair amount of the power cells energy but it looks like that won't be something to worry about."

Morgan glared at him.

"Random chance?"

"Random chance," he asserted causing Morgan to up the intensity of her glare.

Janus turned to look at her, an expression of pure innocence lining his features.

"Is there something you wish to say Morgan? I only ask because I could feel your gaze burning a hole in the back of my head."

"You know exactly what I want to say," she replied indignantly.

"You think I had something to do with this?" he asked, his face still the perfect picture of innocence.

She snorted. "No, I think you had everything to do with this. You know we are not allowed to interfere."

"You would be expert on that," he shot back.

"That was different and you know it," she argued.

"No helping them find the sangraal was different and you know it," he countered. "Showing them the location of the arc of truth was interfering."

"And I paid for that by being willing to spend eternity battling Adria," she protested. "What price are you going to pay?"

"And why would I need to pay a price? You can't prove I did anything."

"But I know you did it."

"You think I did it."

"No I know. I just can't prove it."

Janus sighed. "Why are you of all people getting angry about this?"

"You know why," she said moodily.

"Oh yes because you think we shouldn't interfere unless it will count, right?"

Morgan stayed silent this time.

"This counts Morgan," Janus all but yelled. "Helping them get back their friends and their leaders counts."

"Not that you had anything to do with it," interjected Oma.

Janus took a breath to calm himself. "Not that I had anything to do with it."

He walked over to Morgan and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know you are worried Morgan but they aren't going to do anything. They have no proof I did anything and even if they try it I won't bring you down with me."

"You're such a fool Janus," she muttered. "Just like Merlin."

Janus chuckled. "I can think of worse role models."

* * *

**Zarasian Flagship**

It had been a while since Sovaer had last contacted him. In fact it had been more than a while, it had been ages. The last time Sovaer had contacted him was to show that video and then to say he was going deeper into the computer core to try and find more information or better yet a way for them to get out of this mess alive so they could pass on the information.

Jakose knew he had to patient and let his friend work but his patience had long since run out and his worry for his friend's safety finally got the better of him.

"Aerin, have you found anything yet?"

"Aerin?"

"Aerin, will you please answer me?"

"Aerin!"

"AERIN!"

"I'm here JJ."

"Finally. Have you found anything?"

"I'm making progress but I need you do something very important for me."

"Name it."

"Please shut up and let me work…sir."

"…"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"…"

"Sorry."

"…"

"…"

":)"

* * *

_**Celestia**_

With their foothold in the middle of enemy territory established, and being rather well held with five Titans standing guard in front of the only door to the gate room, the next priority had been extending their control zone. The first thing they had done was to assist the SF's that had been pinned down after their assault on the forces guarding the control room.

Arguably charging head long into the depths of the station without slowing down whenever they encountered enemy forces wasn't the best idea. Luckily they hadn't encountered much in the way of opposition until they reached their end destination since all the reapers in the area had been converging on the SF's in a bid to overwhelm them. Of course even if they had encountered opposition three hundred heavily armoured Tau'ri soldiers wearing tempest armour rushing to assist their comrades is not a tide that can be stopped by a few reapers. But when they impacted the combat zone at first it was like a flood hitting a burning town. The SF's suddenly found themselves surrounded not by enemy soldiers ready to strike them down but by comrades ready to tend to their wounds. The reapers were caught off guard by this momentary loss of momentum against the enemy and found themselves being overwhelmed on their flank as they wheeled to face this new threat. Moments earlier they had been the aggressors and at the far end of the line they still were, mercilessly cutting down the SF's they faced, but at the other end of the line they were being forced to defend the territory they had previously been able to take simply by walking into it. Unfortunately the Tau'ri weren't having it all there own way, if the situation had been as simple as them moving up to support besieged troops on the front line then it probably would have been easier for them. However in this case the situation forced them to flank the enemy forces while the enemy continued to punish the SF's and for that they were costs. True by flanking the reapers they were causing disarray and inflicting heavy casualties against the enemy, but they were also unable to support the SF's at the other end of the line and that lack of support was costing the SF's greatly. Much like the SF's at the other end of the line had, before Sheppard and the reinforcements had turned up, the SF's positioned at this end found themselves being overwhelmed by the reapers as wave after wave of enemy soldiers crashed into them.

It wasn't long before the order was given for the SF's to pull back, or rather pull sideways, in an attempt to survive as the oppressive weight of the reapers. Once again the battle lines were redrawn as the reapers attempted to chase down the retreating SF's while the marines hastily moved up to meet them. The result when the two sides met was absolute carnage. The corridors of the station rang with the sound of explosions as air burst grenades exploded, the deep thud of shot after shot being fired from projectile weapons and plasma rifles and the gentle clatter as spent rounds hit the deck plating. The fighting was intense but with the odds in one sides favour the battle could eventually only go one way. Years of intense training in the harshest of conditions, time spent in actual combat and superior equipment won the fight for the Tau'ri against the reapers they faced. Outmatched and outnumbered the reapers slowly but surely fell to the hardened veterans they faced. The skirmish had not been without its costs though. These reapers had been wiped out and admittedly they easily replaceable lab grown creatures but they had represented a big chunk of the forces present and the Tau'ri had had almost two hundred men taken out of the fight due to injuries ranging to mild to severe and even the odd death. Worse still the rest of the reapers on the station had been alerted to their presence and were moving to meet them on equal terms. If that tide of enemy forces hit them the playing field may be equal but the forces involved would definitely not be. The Tau'ri only had one option for now and that was to fall back as quickly as possible and take their wounded with them.

Luckily for the wounded though the Wraith forces had not only fully deployed through the stargate but had begun to shore up lines of defence around the gate room. This meant they were on hand to cover their retreat as well as carry the wounded to the gate room where a temporary triage centre had been established with Doctors Keller and Beckett heading up the treatment efforts.

Following the departure of the marines to assist the SF's Todd and McKay along with a troupe of Wraith soldiers had quickly moved to retake the gate control room. Once the enemy forces around the gate control room had been eliminated, and another pair of Zarasian techs had been captured, Todd had then moved on leaving McKay behind in the now reactivated gate control room. Todd had a mission of his own and he felt quite honoured that Sheppard trusted him to carry it out. It was truly amazing that after all those years of mistrust he was now being tasked with rescuing the Tau'ri prisoners and getting them safely back to the gate room to either be equipped for deployment with the other forces or simply evacuated. What really made it worth it, he reflected, was that after he and his soldiers had eliminated the last of those pesky hybrids he had been treated to a truly wonderful expression of shock on the faces of the Tau'ri after the door opened and they saw him and his men standing their. But what had been more wonderful was the look of disbelief on their faces when he had announced that the Wraith were here to save them. He had made sure to share that particular memory with the rest of the hive mind since it was far too good to keep to himself. On reflection he realised that their reaction had probably been due to his people's isolationist attitude in the past two years. They had been working tireless so that when they did re-emerge on the galactic stage they would be a completely different people from the Wraith that Pegasus once knew and fear. As it stood the majority of people only knew of the stories about the Wraith and had never met one in person, so it must have come as quite a shock to suddenly find that you were being rescued by one.

The humans, after a little encouragement, were quickly relocated to the gate room. There the soldiers were given tempest battle armour and suitable amounts of firepower while those with any medical training were assigned to triage for the duration of the siege. Any civilian personnel that wouldn't be useful in this conflict were eventually evacuated through the stargate since beaming out still wasn't possible with the jamming field still in effect. They had thus been unable to locate the device that was generating the field. Admittedly it really shouldn't be that hard to find but since they didn't know what the thing actually looked like it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. To make matters worse they didn't know if they were after one big device or a number of smaller devices. For now though it seemed they were stuck fighting a ground battle and would have to leave the beaming away the enemy option off the table.

So far the score board was looking interesting. In terms of active forces the reapers had a minimal of seven hundred and fifty in their corner while the allies now had over three hundred marines, thanks to liberating the hostages, and a thousand Wraith warriors. It certainly appeared as if the odds were in the allies favour from a numbers point of view but as a wise general knows the situation never just boils down to just the numbers until the very end. While the reapers were outnumbered, they were also fearless. It wasn't just that they were cut off from their method of escape and unconcerned about losses they might endure in the future. It was the fact that they had been hard wired, quite literally given the cybernetic implants, to know no fear or any other emotion for that matter. The reapers would charge right at them with no fear for their lives because they were mere tools that could be replaced, or in this case more could be grown. Even when they were fighting the Wraith they didn't have this sort of problem. Even the most vindictive of Wraith Commanders would not simply throw away his soldiers. Soldiers made up the core part of a hives strength and could not afford to be wasted, that type of thinking could leave a hive vulnerable to destruction or domination by their rivals. Not to mention that the Wraith were a hive mind and it certainly isn't enjoyable to feel hundreds of minds suddenly vanish from the link as the sparks of their lives flickered and died. But the Zarasian reapers were tools, mere means to an end and were only valued for the power and the opportunities they offered their masters. Right now as far as the Zarasians aboard the station were concerned that purpose was keeping them alive and dealing with the threat to them. Not to mention that the reapers were pre-programmed with orders to eliminate any resistance they encounter on the station. In other words wiping out the humans, Wraith and the odd Asgard was priority number one for them with their own lives coming in last place every time.

As it happened accomplishing these goals benefited not only the reapers programming but the Zarasians will to live. The reapers would be hurling themselves at the allied forces, which were all focused around the gate room and this would provide the Zarasians with an opportunity to escape. Knowing that time would only grant the enemy they faced more time to further fortify their position the reapers swarmed towards the gate room, intent on exterminating the enemy.

Meanwhile though an attack was already going on in the corridors around the secondary control room and the valkyries had there hands full holding them back. It was certainly entertaining to watch from an outside perspective. Freyr and her three subordinates had formed a perimeter in the corridors around the entrance and were fighting tooth and nail, or in this case claw, to hold them back. Nevertheless fifty reapers do not go easy, even with the equivalent of five heavily armed terminators standing in their way. Eir had even been forced to leave the confines of the room to take down any reapers that bypassed the perimeter they had created in order to prevent them from storming the control room. It was a good thing that she was a combat medic and it certainly helped she took an interest in humanoid physiology. It meant she knew exactly where to hit them to make it hurt the most. In the mean time Thor had been busy accessing what systems he could. The lockdown still hadn't been permanently lifted, and wouldn't until the station was secure and all the intruders dealt with as part of the lockdown protocols. What he found made him frown.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Supreme Commander Thor please come in."

"This is Sheppard, what's up Thor?"

"I have been accessing internal sensors in an attempt to monitor the enemy's movements and I have found something."

"I'm not going to like what you found am I?"

"Doubtful. It would appear that the enemy forces are on the move."

"Go on."

"They appear to be converging on the gate room."

"Damn! All of them?"

"Except for the fifty that are attempting to retake the secondary control room and the valkyries are currently battling all reapers are heading your way."

"Can the girls handle fifty of these…what did you call them…reapers by themselves? I'm not questioning their capabilities but they are outnumbered ten to one."

"Remember that they are significantly stronger and faster than a human and are much more heavily armed any of your soldiers."

"I'll be sure to remember that. What's the head count of the forces coming at us?"

"It is difficult to get a full count however sensors put them at over seven hundred."

"We can handle seven hundred in a fair fight."

"Be careful Colonel the reapers are not like any enemy you have ever faced. They know no fear and will attack you relentlessly with no consequence for their own well being."

"I'll bear it in mind. Let me know if you find anything else."

"I will."

"You know you're doomed right?" said the bolder Zarasian captive.

Thor said nothing.

"You think you know what you up against but you haven't got a clue," the Zarasian went on.

"Genetic hybrids created utilising Wraith and Zarasian DNA armed with plasma rifles with plasma pistols as a side arm," Thor stated without turning round. "Numbering at around the seven hundred total mark."

The human snorted. "There are far more of them than that."

"Not anymore."

"You could not have eliminated so many so quickly."

"No we did not," confirmed Thor. "Our allies did however."

"Impossible," he spat.

"You would be surprised what the fifth great race is capable of doing when they set their minds to it," said Thor with the hint of a smile.

"They'll lose. No race is greater than the Zarasians."

"Soon you will learn that there are many races greater than the Zarasians. The Alterans were and they considered my own to be one, and we know our allies are as well," said Thor. "It would be more beneficial for your people though if you were to learn this sooner rather than later."

In the gate room Sheppard was mustering the troops for what was going to be the fight of their lives. Picking up his XM-25 he clipped another magazine into place and he also slung a P90 across his back for a little versatility when it came to available firepower while stocking up on extra ammo.

All around him the rest of the task force were gearing up, replacing power cells and loading full magazines into their weapons. The Titans were standing guard over the door. Amongst the sea of stretchers medics were busy treating the wounded, both Wraith and human alike receiving treatment for various minor injuries and every one of them insisting they would be alright and their buddies needed help the most. The more serious patients were being shipped back through the stargate to receive more extensive treatment.

Glancing to his side he shared a look with Todd and nodded at the Wraith. On his other side Ronon was putting a fresh power cell into his particle magnum and fidgeting slightly as he grew used to the feel of the tempest battle armour he had been given. It was going to be a tough fight for them and they knew it, but they were damned if they were going to make it a easy one for the enemy.

* * *

"Oh shit!"

"What is it?"

"Anti-viral programs!"

"Can you fight them off?"

"Can't talk right now. Busy surviving."

In a subsection of the computer core Sovaer dodged a bolt of energy that had been aimed at his head. If those hit him part of his avatar projection would be erased and he would have to reload that section, which would take time and multiple hits before he could regenerate would leave him vulnerable. Worse he would have to reload from where he was which the computer cores automated defences might be able to trace the more often he had to reload. Worse still he could be deleted entirely which that could have severe ramifications for his mind. The loss of the projection could potentially corrupt his neural makeup as he was forcibly ejected from the computer core. Not to mention the fact that getting shot in here hurt like hell. He was looking at a tough fight.

He was forced to roll to narrowly avoid taking a full on blast from another bolt that had been aimed at him. Okay, he thought to himself as a shot clipped him and caused him to grit his teeth in pain, it was time to start fighting back.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	41. Adventures in Cyberspace

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: I looked back over the last few chapters and realised that i hadn't included the ascended for quite some time. I thought i should make up for that with a memorable scene. Celestia is a madhouse of different things all happening at once. You start on one and suddenly you're covering a dozen.**

**BIG Z1776: Large battles on the ground are something for the future. Officially war hasn't been declared yet, yet. **

**Shadows of Realm: Lets just say that if he gets out of there he is going to have worked hard to earn his freedom.**

**Cdoctor: United we stand, divided we fall.**

**QP: The numbers are dropping certainly but the Zarasians have a large number of reapers at their disposal.**

**Naginator: Well here's more for you.**

**Oddliver: Thanks for the correction, you being so eagle eyed shows you are paying very close attention to my work.**

**abhinavatlantis: I've been meaning to do that for some time now, thanks for giving me the push i needed. Enjoy.**

**Frobond: Wow, now that is impressive. If you go back to chapter 28 i explain how they recruit fake people while plucking others from the armed forces. A few thousand from each miltary branch from each IOA country and the rest is all down to time needed to train, something they have had plenty of in the past few years.**

* * *

**Zarasian Flagship – Computer Core**

The inside of a computer core is different for each different computer core, not just in the physical sense but in the way the data is stored and thus interpreted for those with a rather unique perspective of seeing that data. Sovaer certainly had a unique perspective of the insides of this particular computer core. To him being immersed amongst the data was rather like being underwater in a sea of data streams, or if you want to be more accurate in terms of proportions then lake would be more appropriate.

The data aspect of the computer core itself was split into several of these lakes, with each one separated by firewalls, or to continue the lake metaphor dams, of varying size and fortitude. The first lake contained rather basic access systems and information that was open to anyone who could access the computer core. Sovaer's ability to access any computer core through an insert port and insert himself into the system had plunged him straight into the first lake. From their he used his access of the security camera feeds to map out the basic shape of the flagship as well as mount a rescue and bust Jakose out of the brig. However he had been unable to get much more than that from the data pool he was occupying and had been forced to move on to the next, which meant getting through the first firewall. Eventually though he had breached the firewall and had started working his way through all the data he could find. The first thing he had found turned out to be a rather valuable and slightly disturbing video regarding the Zarasian founder Zarin. With that gem safely tucked away in the subcutaneous data storage device connected directly to his interface port he had then taken Jakose's advice and immediately started looking for a way to call for help beyond his distress beacon. He knew it should still be active but he could not guarantee the range would allow the call for help to reach friendly ears.

His search though had proved to be in vain since he couldn't find a single way to signal for help and to his utter frustration had realised that what he was sitting in was essentially the public access library. It took him a moment to realise just what had actually happened when he infiltrated the data core. By entering through the connection port he had successfully bypassed the need to show any log in credentials. The only problem was that without using those credentials his connection lacked the associated access rights that would have allowed him to automatically access the deeper levels of the computer core. So once again he had been forced to make his way past another firewall in order to find some other way to call for help. This one had proven to be an even tougher nut to crack than the last one. Of course it wasn't like he hadn't been expecting that since it was protecting much more important information than the last had. It wasn't even arguably difficult to crack since it consisted of just two layers with each requiring ten digit numeric codes to bypass. Easy enough a goal to accomplish given enough time to work on the problem and the first layer was breached without any real difficulty. The second layer however proved to be not so much difficult as annoying to crack. Whoever had designed the security for this system clearly had a sense of humour, either that or a malicious variety of creative genius. Every time he entered the wrong access code for the second firewall the first would immediately slam shut again in his face and he was forced to re-enter the access code each time he wanted to have another crack at the second. Not only was this extremely time consuming but it was beginning to get on his nerves. Cracking the first had literally been as simple as counting to ten billion in his head, which was much faster than you would think given his cyborg nature. Eventually though he settled into the pattern necessary to get past this obstacle as quickly as possible and, though it seemed to take forever, his determination paid off and he was able to get through.

But this difficulty had proved to be the least of his problems though when he was actually able to step over the threshold and realised his many entry attempts had attracted some unwanted attention. Despite the lack of active security in the previous areas this level was not as lacking. Patrolling the data repository was a number of system defence programs and one of which had homed in on him after his constant repeat attempts to gain access. In this artificially generated environment the defence program had its own unique image. It looked like a glowing star covered in armour plates, with light emanating from between the gaps in the plates and the part with a circular section in the front missing looked almost like an eye. Currently the inner sun was glowing red but when it had been moving around on patrol it had been a neutral blue, right up until it had spotted him. The still blue orb had approached him and bathed him in a beam of white light as he was scanned, then as it finished scanning him the colour of the orb changed to red as though some unseen switch had been flipped. The beam of light vanished and a bolt of red energy was suddenly hurtling towards him. His reflexes kicked in immediately and he dived to dodge the shot and was just fast enough to avoid being struck.

He knew what he was up against from his training in cyber walking with the Vanir, anti-virus system defence programs. These were automated programs designed to seek out threats to the system in the form of viruses or malware, in other words something that should not be there and in this case that included him. The bolt fired at him was not a simple energy bolt because like him in this world nothing was as it seemed. Those bolts were designed to delete data coding, which for him meant they would rip apart his avatar piece by piece with every hit. Fighting against them he felt like he was fighting a real battle. He could reload sections of his avatar piece by piece as long as it wasn't critically damaged but that would take time, which meant any hits he took were going to impede his progress and his ability to survive. Survive, even in this case, was not a metaphor. If his avatar was critically damaged enough to be destroyed his connection to the computer core would be severed automatically and that could have severe ramifications. He could in fact suffer actual brain damage and be left with all the mental capabilities of a rotting vegetable. Admittedly this was the worse case scenario and the best was that he could end up with nothing more than a headache but he didn't feel like finding out which would happen in this case.

By merely staying out of its way and moving out of its range he would avoid gaining attention and having other programs come down on him automatically. So he ducked, dodged and weaved his way out of the path of every bolt the defence orb fired at him. It certainly didn't help that Jakose had decided to continue talk to him after he asked him not to. Then when one of them clipped his leg and slowed his movements as a result he decided it was time to risk drawing a little attention to deal with the immediate threat.

With a thought his twin energy pistols appeared in his hands. While they looked like his regular energy pistols, like everything else in this world, they were not as they appeared. They possessed no power cells, and thus no actual rounds could be fired from them. They were for all intensive purposes just weapons that resembled actual energy pistols. What they actually fired were anti-program bolts, which could be used to neutralise anti-virus programs to a certain degree or even damage other software constructs. Essentially he was firing viruses at the anti-virus programs. Later on he might appreciate the irony of that fact but for the moment he planned on appreciating the fact that he could fire back at the thing firing at him. Each pistol was loaded with a virus taken directly from the storage chip implanted along with his brain. So far it was only accessible when he was in this state but who knew what the future held. The actual purpose of the virus was simple enough, to destroy the coding of whatever it hit.

He had landed on the ground with an injured leg and a slightly bruised ego. He came up shooting at the irritating construct. Unfortunately the thing was not as stupid as its lack of personality would suggest and it did the one thing even the most stupid creature knew to instinctively, it dodged. It wasn't very quick but it made an effort to evade his shots and zigged about instead of just sitting still and presenting a nice easy target to hit. Nevertheless Sovaer possessed superb hand to eye co-ordination and was a trained marksman. More importantly the thing didn't possess a high enough processing power to dodge and shoot him at the same time. By continually firing at the thing he was able to keep it from firing at him and eventually…he scored a hit.

One hit wasn't much but it was a start and he kept firing at it until he scored a second, followed by a third. Each hit not only damaged the anti-virus program but slowed it down slightly, allowing for him to land more and more hits against it. With each hit the orb slowed and the inner light dimmed slightly until after the sixth hit the light winked out and the orb fell to the ground.

Sovaer walked over to the orb where it lay. The inner red light was now blinking on and off erratically, reaching various levels of brightness each time. Valiantly the program attempted to fire off one last bolt, a small ball of energy forming in front of the 'eye' before vanishing as the inner light winked out. Watching these failed attempts with some amusement Sovaer pointed his pistol at the orb before firing, right into the eye. Then he fired again, and again, and again. The inner light had vanished after the first shot and under the unrelenting onslaught the orb shattered, exploding into fragments of energy that scattered as the coding holding the construct together broke down and collapsed.

Now that he had a moment he decided to contact Jakose again.

"Okay I've dealt with it."

"It…there was just the one?"

"Yes just the one, for now at least."

"Why do I get the feeling I don't want to know what that means?"

"Honestly…because there are probably a number of others around here and they're likely to notice that I just took out one of their own."

"Then why did you take it out?"

Sovaer paused to restore his avatar before responding.

"I got hit JJ. That thing clipped my leg and if I hadn't counter attacked it might have beaten me. I can't win playing defence, not in here."

"Can you handle the others?"

"I think so. If I go on the offensive right from the word go I probably can. If its one on one I should be fine, two on one would be tricky but not difficult if I keep on attacking."

"And if there are more than two?"

"That would be troublesome."

"Oh…well let's hope they don't all come at once."

"Let's hope there aren't many of them. These things are really annoying to go up against."

"Tough?"

"No, a few hits will knock them out easy enough. They're just fast which makes them difficult to hit."

"Good thing you're a cyborg then."

"Yes, yes I know. I may have all these enhancements but I can only react so fast you know."

"So it's not your highly efficient nervous system that's letting you down but your less advanced brain."

"I suppose that's one way to look at it."

"Not to worry. My affairs are in order."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence."

":)"

Sovaer shook his head, a small smile playing about his lips.

"I'll talk to you later. I need to look around for something that might help us."

"Good luck."

Of course he had been lying when he said that. He just didn't want his friend to worry about him. And no doubt his friend would worry because in the distance he could three metallic orbs getting larger and larger and heading right towards him. It looked like he had attracted attention after all. They didn't appear to be in attack mode at the moment, if the lack of a red light was anything to go by, so they must be on patrol like the last one. Sighing he raised his twin pistols and headed towards the nearest one. It was time to go to work.

* * *

**_Kalen Aror_ – Hyperspace **

The mighty Averian warship rumbled slightly as the inertial dampeners battled hard to compensate for the intense velocity the ship was travelling at. The hyperdrive was being pushed to its maximum and then some in a bid to get to the location of the mysterious signal that much sooner. The ship was brand new, barely even tested and Admiral Xander was pushing her to the point where the power conduits were beginning to glow red from the sheer amount of energy being directed to the ships hyperdrive.

On the ships bridge crewmen shared nervous glances with each other but adamantly refused to look at the Admiral himself. They all knew that he was thinking right now and he would not be interested in hearing their fears so they carried on with their duties and pretended not to feel the subtle vibration running through the deck plating.

When the ship had first launched they all worked quietly and professionally until a beep from the communications console broke through the deafening silence. With no small amount of courage the comm. officer spoke up.

"Sir, we have received a message from our allies. The search party has locked onto the beacon and is moving to intercept."

"Will we get there in time?"

"No sir," said the helm officer. "Their ships are much faster than ours so we'll be late to the party."

"Tell engineering to shunt all available power to the hyperdrive, including the back up generators."

"Sir?" asked the helmsmen nervously.

"Do it," Xander ordered. "Take all the power this ship has and get us there in time to join the rescue."

"Sir the hyperdrive wasn't designed to take that much…" the helmsmen started to say before he froze under the Admirals glare.

"That was an order."

"Yes sir. Power being redirected to the hyperdrive."

As power was drawn away from anywhere it could be spared the _Aror_ began to pick up speed. The inertial dampeners attempted to compensate for the tremors that were sent through the ship, not from the velocity, but from the hyperdrive itself as it shook from all the raw power being channelled into it. The ships inertial dampeners were designed to accommodate for the change in acceleration of the ship and were keeping up with the hyperdrive as the ships speed changed. However they could not fully account for the vibrations running through the very superstructure of the ship when they emanated from the inside of the thing. They just weren't designed for that purpose because it wasn't supposed to happen. As such feeling the deck plating shaking underneath you was not providing the crew with any comfort, nor was their commander's fierce determination to get into a potential conflict. There nervousness wasn't entirely unfounded though, despite being an experienced crew, this was after all a new ship that hadn't even been through a shakedown cruise. There was always the chance that something could go wrong with a key system and they could all be done for as a result if they were in a combat situation at the time.

Admiral Xander however was not blinded by his determination to rescue his leader despite what the bridge crew might think. He was well aware of the nervousness that they were sweating in buckets and he could understand it.

"Activate the internal comm. and put me on all speakers," he ordered.

The bridge crew were momentarily surprised by the order before they snapped out of their stupor and hurried to carry out his orders.

"All hands this is Admiral Xander. As you are no doubt aware by the fact that the vibrating deck plating I have ordered additional power to be shunted into the hyperdrive and I understand this is making some of you nervous. Now I understand why, this is a new ship after all and has yet to have its shake down cruise and going into combat is the last thing anyone expected for her first flight. But despite this I have faith in all of you. You are the finest crew in the fleet which is why you are on the finest ship in the fleet and I know just what you are capable of accomplishing. Now this crew and this fleet have a mission to perform. Minister Jakose, our leader, has been taken captive and as we speak our allies are moving to rescue him and for that we are grateful."

He paused for a moment as he let his words sink in before continuing.

"But you know what…I don't feel like letting the cowards who would attack a peace conference and kidnap our leader get off without knowing our feelings about this. I intend to hunt them down, recover our leader and his bodyguard and make sure they damn well know just who they pissed off. So the best crew and the best ship in the fleet are going to burn out our hyperdrive if need be to get their in time to blast those bastards in oblivion! Now let me hear what you all have to say to that!"

The ships corridors rang with cheers from the crew.

"For Jakose and for Averia!" Xander roared.

"For Jakose! For Averia!" the crew cheered.

Xander waited for the cheering to die down before he spoke again, this time in a much more professional voice.

"I'm counting on all of you now to do your duty and make sure this ship is ready for battle by the time we arrive. I can't say what we'll find for but make no mistake people because we are most likely in for the fight of our lives."

The mood became more serious as he spoke, the initial elation having died down. First and foremost the _Aror_ was a warship, the most powerful in the Averian fleet. If she was sent on a mission then her being in battle was to be expected likely and even presumed.

* * *

**Zarasian Flagship – Computer Core**

Sovaer winced as he moved forwards, his battered and bruised body protesting at every step he took. His clothes were a mess, pockmarked and torn from the numerous hits he had taken fighting off the anti-virus programs. He couldn't stop to heal the damage done to him just yet though, not until he was sure there weren't any more anti-virus programs around.

A few minutes ago he had thought he had taken out the last of them only to be ambushed by the programs he had yet to neutralise. His first clue that they were there had been the bolt to the back that knocked him off his feet before he recovered from the shock. By the time he had fought them off and dealt with the last one he had acquired numerous wounds. He looked around and failing to spot a single silver orb bearing down on him with malicious intent decided that he had indeed finished off the last of them.

Falling to his knees he closed his eyes and focused on restoring his avatar to its former working state. As his wounds disappeared and his clothes were restored to their formerly pristine condition he found his strength returning to him. The problem with using an avatar was that when the avatar was damaged the brain complained when it was trying to use a body that partly wasn't there. The end result of which was what felt like the universes worse migraines all happening in his head at the same time. Since operating in this environment was entirely dependent on a person's mental state he couldn't function properly with a bad headache, let alone the mother of all migraines. Groaning he pushed himself back to his feet and rubbed his head. The effects of the de-synchronisation had almost completely faded by now and in a moment he would be back to normal, well normal for him anyway.

He looked around mentally, taking in the different data streams that surrounded him. He appeared to be in the secondary systems section, which meant the next set of firewalls would be guarding the primary systems. However there was only one set of firewalls after that one, from what he could tell anyway, which meant that whatever was behind that one was probably high profile and possibly even confidential military data. If had the time and the opportunity then he would definitely try to break through that last line of defence in the hopes of finding the gems they would need to decide a coming war.

There was however one system he could access and that was long range sensors. Since the ship was travelling in hyperspace it had a limited ability to scan around it for other vessels. However since the sensors weren't designed to scan in hyperspace though the picture was grainy at best and incomprehensible at worst. By staring at the readings intently he eventually got a rough picture of what it was like out there. Unless he was very much mistaken there were a group of ships heading right towards them, and they were catching up. There were only a few people he knew of that had ships fast enough to catch a ship like this up with such ease and they were all allies to the Averian people.

It looked like their allies were coming to their rescue.

* * *

_**Celestia**_

The allies had a choice in the upcoming battle. They could either sit back and wait for the Zarasians to come to them on terms that their enemy had decided on or they could decide the terms for themselves. If they let the enemy attack as they pleased then they could not guarantee a successful defence simply because they would be at the enemy's mercy, vulnerable to attack from any direction. Ideally the reapers would charge right at the gate room, and they could repulse that attack with ease. Of course the ideal for them was also the stupid thing for the enemy and men who want to live do not act stupidly. Even if the attack succeeded they would be unable to dial the gate because there were no gate controls in the gate room.

So rather predictably the reaper horde was coming right at the gate control room first. The only thing that would make sense would be if they dialled the gate then followed through by charging the gate room and hoping to push them back with sheer weight of numbers in the hope of the human Zarasians making it out alive. The damning thing was that it could actually work. With the reapers being treated as cannon fodder and the gate control room rather difficult to defend there was a decent chance of success. So the allies positioned their forces to meet the reaper horde head on and try to stop them in their tracks before they got near to the gate control room.

As the allied soldiers moved out they knew only one thing for certain, that they were in for the fight of their lives.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	42. Battles that had to be Fought

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: For now indeed. The Aror is effectively designed like a battlestar as it stands, minus the hangers. On Celestia they have accepted that people are going to die so they'll fight to keep as many alive as possible.**

**BIG Z1776: The strength of a Wraith, none of the weaknesses and blindly obedient. Oh yeah reapers are nasty.**

**Shadows of Realm: And to think the Aror hasn't even entered combat yet.**

**Cdoctor: Here they are.**

**Oddliver: Space battle, land battle, cyberspace battle, you'll find them all in this one.**

**Phantom1s: Thank you.**

**Alterra: Glad to hear it.**

**s-david-m: I went back and fixed that, it was a sentence i failed to delete properly.**

**Frobond: I think after reading all of this so quickly you are entitled to forget one or two things. If you ever have any questions shoot me a line and i'll answer them.**

**Kevin Trevino: There is just one of me, two of me would be worrying. I update every Wednesday so keep an eye on your calender. It is impossible i'm afraid for me to publish this as a novel. For one thing it would probably infringe on so many copyright laws i would end up with a court order preventing me from writing. Also this is getting so long that putting it in just one book would be out of the question, we're looking at a set. Enjoy the latest though.**

* * *

**Zarasian Flagship – Computer Core**

Sovaer strode confidently up to the firewall and located the access code entry point. As the wall shimmered into solidity he noted the unusual shape for the individual blocks. Unlike the other walls he had encountered the three in front of him were all made of octagonal blocks instead of hexagonal ones, which suggested a much stronger firewall. Probing the access point he found his assumption had been correct, he would need to come up with a different ten digit alpha numeric code for each one. Sighing he set about entering the first of the three trillion possible combinations and got to work, settling into a meditative state he worked on crunching through them all as quickly as possible.

Eventually he managed to break through the first of the firewalls and then he decided to play one of his hidden trump cards. Pulling out another of the programs from his data chip he activated a pathway lock program. The program essentially established a stable, and more importantly locked open, system pathway. The only weak point in initialising the program was that it required the system pathway to be in the state you wanted to lock it in first but now that he had it open though he could keep it that way. It might draw attention to him when he broke through the last of the firewalls and into the next repository but there was only so long he could keep this up without bringing the entire security system down on top of him. When he attempted to break through the second firewall and the first attempted to slam closed on him a ring of energy surrounded him and held the encroaching blocks back, leaving a man sized hole in the firewall that looked ready to snap shut at any moment.

The second firewall eventually fell, and he extended the circuit lock to include it, followed by the third and suddenly he was through. Spurred on by the thrill of finally being in sight of the victory line he charged at the four anti-virus programs that were bearing down on him and started blasting. His pistols appeared in his hands a split second before he had raised them to point at his targets. As he duelled it out with the four orbs he felt like all the weariness he had been feeling had disappeared. He felt renewed, more than that, he felt empowered.

Under the onslaught he dished out the orbs fell like flies and for the moment he was alone, surrounded by the primary systems. He didn't waste a second, immediately accessing the hyperdrive subsystems. If he did something as blatant as activating communications and broadcasting a distress signal on all frequencies, or even Averian frequencies, then he would immediately draw attention to himself. This would put him in danger and more importantly Jakose in danger and he wasn't about to allow that to happen. So he quickly scanned the readings coming from the active hyperdrive and looked for a way to sabotage the hyperdrive and force them out of hyperspace. It took him a moment but he found it, in one of the primary power conduits no less. The conduit was running hot, probably because of the fact that the hyperdrive was running at maximum power, but was not operating at its maximum. This meant that he could dial it up and that was exactly what he did. The hyperdrive that was already taking in as much power as it possibly could found itself with more power than it could do anything with and began to heat up as it started to overload. As the hyperdrive started to go critical the safeties cut in automatically and the power flow was cut off at the source. Without the constant power flow the hyperdrive automatically opened a window and the flagship dropped back into normal space. With the hyperdrive automatically disabled to give it time to cool off the flagship, despite still having sublight, was left dead in space.

With the flagship stuck in normal space, his beacon broadcasting and who he hoped were allies catching them up he moved on to the next task ahead of him. Ignoring the other anti-virus programs around him he decided that subtlety was not something he could keep up at this point, not after the hyperdrive had decided to fail. It was already a miracle to have gotten this far as it was.

He shook his head. Two trump cards in the same computer core, he might just be losing his edge. Still he hadn't used all his tricks yet. Once again he accessed the data chip and pulled out something a little more special than a circuit lock program. This one had an actual shape in this world and took the form of what looked like a cross between an energy cannon and a very big bazooka. Lining up his shot he pointed it right at the distant firewall while simultaneously locking onto each of the anti-virus programs around him. Rather like his energy pistols this particular device wasn't what it appeared. When he fired it a large tendril of black energy shot out of the barrel, careening straight towards the firewall. Half way through its journey the one tendril split into over a dozen smaller tendrils surrounding one fat one. The largest smashed straight into the firewall while the others curved away, wiggling through the air until they hit the anti-virus programs. The octagonal blocked firewall put up some resistance but the same could not be said for the more fragile silver orbs, the tendrils pierced them like a hot knife through butter. With their targets destroyed the tendrils arced to meet up with the larger one and together they pounded into the first of six firewalls. Under the full force of the virus cannon the firewall shattered into its individual blocks as it succumbed to the effect of the virus. While the weapon he was using appeared to be an anti-anti-virus launcher platform like his pistols it was actually much simpler. It was in fact a single powerful and deadly virus that spread throughout cyberspace to destroy its target, which made it much more noticeable to the computer cores security. With the effects of the black virus now focused entirely on the firewalls they succumbed to the onslaught that much sooner. The second fell, then the third and soon there was only the sixth left and even that eventually collapsed. With the final barrier in front of him gone he pressed a button and the progress of the black virus ceased.

Looking around he surveyed the damage that the black virus had wrought on the computer core. Numerous subsystems were in disarray as a result of the data coding being corrupted and deleted. No doubt the crew of the ship were running around trying to work out what the hell had just happened to cause so many systems to suddenly fail. There were backups no doubt and the systems had only been scrambled and could be rebooted to be brought back online but the important thing was that he had a way to the secure database. He could have continued to use the black virus to attack the other anti-virus programs but that would have risked compromising the data he planned to steal. Viruses were very good at destroying annoying coding, but unfortunately the most powerful ones he had at his disposal would destroy everything in their path. Still their was nothing to stop him from letting the black virus run wild after he had gotten everything he could. Letting that thing loose after he had infiltrated some of the deepest parts of the computer core would probably provide enough of a distraction for him and Jakose to get off this ship alive once their allies, hopefully, arrived.

The time for thought about the future had long since passed though, even if all these thoughts had crossed his mind in the blink of an eye. He needed to get what data he could while he could. The door was open but it wouldn't stay that way for long. It was time to move.

Summoning his two pistols out of thin cyberspace he charged towards the firewall, through the holes that he had rather unsubtly created and right into a group of system defence orbs that were coming the other way. Oh yes, he thought as we dived to dodge a torrent of shots, this was going to be interesting.

Jakose had better not bother him now.

* * *

**Zarasian Flagship – Bridge**

"I want an explanation now!" Zarin yelled at the panicking bridge crew. "What is happening to my ship?"

Across the bridge, and as it happened most of the _Doom Bringer_, the lights were twitching between full and dim and screens were flickering. Even the glow coming from consoles seemed to be fluctuating somewhat and the bridge crew were in a flurry trying to find out why this was happening. A minute ago the ship had unexpectedly dropped out of hyperspace. Then the entire bridge had been plunged into total darkness for a full five seconds before, for no apparent reason, everything had suddenly switched itself back on. With only the faint glow from the reapers cranial implants to illuminate them the crewmen had looked at each other, puzzled, too shocked to even speak. Then the lights had come back on and everyone rushed to find out what had happened before they felt the wrath that Zarin would swiftly deal out if he didn't get answers soon.

"Something seems to be affecting the power grid sir," said a crewman stammered.

"I can see that," Zarin snapped, causing the crewman to flinch. "I want to know why."

"Something appears to have scrambled the power flow regulator programs," said another crewman, who was rapidly typing at his console as he spoke. "Back-ups have kicked in to restore power and primaries are being stabilised."

"Why did we lose power?" Zarin asked in a calmer voice.

"Power was shut down to automatically to prevent overloads once the primary regulators were compromised," the crewman explained. "Back-ups then kicked in to patch up the primaries and restore partial stability to systems but the corruption appears to have infected them as well."

"What is our status?"

"There isn't any damage to the hardware itself but the power grid is still stabilising," said another crewman. "Back-ups are responding are we are picking up the slack until the primaries are fully restored. But we dropped out of hyperspace because there was a power surge and the hyperdrive automatically shut down to prevent an overload."

"What did this to my ship?" Zarin demanded.

"It looks like a virus in the computer core that simultaneously knocked several of our system defence programs," said the second crewman. "The progress of the virus has halted and anti-virus programs are responding to the threat. The power surge to the hyperdrive occurred before the virus's appearance though."

"Where did the virus come from?"

"According to these readings the virus suddenly appeared in the primary systems section of the computer core started expanding before stopping. The computer cores defence systems are currently trying to track down the source."

"The only way this could have happened is from someone on the ship," surmised Zarin. "What is the status of the prisoners?"

"Sensors show that Minister Jakose is in his cell," said a fourth crewman.

"What about the other one?" Zarin demanded, when he realised the crewman had nothing more to say.

"Sir?" the same crewman asked hesitantly. "Only one captive was expected."

"There were two captives," Zarin stated flatly. "The Minister and his bodyguard."

The crewman started hurriedly typing at his console.

"Logs show only one prisoner being placed in a containment cell and only one cell is occupied."

"Two of the reapers from the capture team took the extra prisoner to a cell, find out what happened on him," Zarin ordered.

"Yes sir."

"And check on the Minister," Zarin added.

"Sir?"

"Do it!"

"Yes sir."

A minute later the rest of the Zarasian fleet had regrouped with the flagship. But more importantly Zarin had the first of his answers, and he wasn't happy.

"What do you mean the Minister isn't in his cell?" he half asked half yelled.

"There was only a reaper in the cell, alive but paralyzed from the neck down," explained the fearful crewman. "Its spinal cord had been severed."

"How did this happen?"

"Umm," said the crewman hesitantly. "We found the two missing reapers as well. They were in a supply cupboard with their throats cut. It looks like the Ministers bodyguard killed them and then left the reaper alive in the cell in order to trick the sensors. Its also possible they're responsible for the virus."

Zarin slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair.

"Find them! Now!" he ordered. "They may not be able to escape but I will not allow them to sabotage this ship."

"Sir!" said a crewman manning the sensor console.

"What?" Zarin snapped.

"A hyperspace window is opening! Sir, it's massive!"

"Bring our shields and weapons online now," Zarin ordered.

From a single massive hyperspace window emerged a strange fleet of ships. Hulking great smooth silver behemoths, fractionally smaller grey bulks and small black predators. They were of course O'Neill's, Pegasus's and Night Fury's of the allied fleet. The 100 Zarasian ships found themselves facing off against 20 O'Neill's, 25 Pegasus's and 96 Night Fury's. Take into account that the Night Fury's were easily superior to the slightly larger Zarasian ships that made up ninety nine percent of the Zarasian fleet and the Zarasians odds for survival were not looking very high. Things weren't looking good for them unless something changed quickly.

Fate however has a strange sense of irony and behind the Zarasian fleet a series of smaller hyperspace windows opened and deposited three hundred additional ships.

On the bridge of the _Doom Bringer_ Zarin smiled a predatory grin. It wasn't going to be as easy as they thought it would.

The Zarasian ships were durable, on par with Averian warships, but would only last half the time a Night Fury would. Then there was the power of the ships themselves. The Night Fury's were easily far more powerful and would win a two to one engagement against the larger Zarasian ships without breaking a sweat. But that was just the smaller ships, the larger Pegasus and O'Neill class ships were easily capable of dispatching multiple enemy vessels with a single volley. Zarin may think he had the advantage but in reality it could actually be quite easily matched depending on how this played out.

But the surprises weren't finished yet. One last hyperspace window opened amongst the allied lines a single ship emerged. The ship was bulky, long and despite initial appearances was actually quite powerful. It was of course the _Kalen Aror_ which meant that the Averians had come looking for their lost leader.

Over their subspace communications the Asgard and Tau'ri ships received a message.

"This is Admiral Xander of the _Kalen Aror_ we are ready to assist in the rescue of our Minister."

"Admiral Xander this is Lt Colonel Lorne of the _Weir_ I have been advised to cede you command of the allied fleet. However be advised I will reclaim command if you place our ships in unnecessary danger."

"Acknowledged Colonel and thank you."

On the bridge of the _Aror_ the holographic display table initialised and a three dimensional picture formed as the sensor readings were processed by the battle computer. The holographic display included numerous details regarding the ships, including the power readings emanating from the ships and the apparent shield strength. The IFF readings from the individual ships marked the battle groups and the ship names, allowing for Xander to better co-ordinate the allied forces. The Night Fury's had been grouped into their hunting packs so they would work to support each other, which made them easier to co-ordinate in the heat of battle. It was one less thing off his mind if he didn't have to worry about small ships being cut off without support as they were swarmed by the enemy.

He was confident that in a battle, against even four hundred ships, the allied fleet could deal with them easily enough. From what he could determine if they co-ordinated their strikes and even if the Night Fury's only targeted one ship a piece, the Pegasus's five and the O'Neill's just three, they could disable nearly three hundred ships in a single volley. Of course this was only in an ideal situation where every one of their shots was dead on the mark and given the difficulty of hitting a moving target with bolt. At the best they could take down the shields of those ships and maybe even disable a number of them. The real problem though was that they would have to disable the enemy flagship in order to rescue Jakose and Sovaer, as indicated by the distress signal emanating from it.

If they could deal with the rest of the fleet first though then he could focus on bringing down the flagship under their terms. So with the flagship marked as an off limits target for the mean while Xander started distributing orders for the attack. In the few seconds he had been processing his thoughts F-302's had been deployed while the Zarasians launched fighters of their own. Battle was about to commence.

* * *

_**Celestia**_

The hallways rang with the sounds of gunfire. Plasma, energy and projectile weapons filled the corridors with deafening noise as the allied forces faced off against the reaper horde. The reaper horde had been descending on the gate room with the sole intent of crushing anything that stood in their way. Then the allied forces had hit them with their own attack and the reaper forces had stalled their advance.

Hundreds of reapers lay dead or dying on the deck plating but the casualties were just as bad on the allied forces, the Wraith forces had taken a beating while the Tau'ri forces were valiantly still fighting on with their more advanced armour allowing for them to survive hits that would otherwise prove fatal. The battle net was bustling with activity as people hastily gave out orders and called for support as they became overwhelmed by the forces they faced. The initial attack had allowed the allies to gain an advantage over the enemy and most of their casualties were just from light to moderate wounds with very few deaths. But as the combat began to intensify the casualty list started to rise as the two forces clashed.

Throughout the station small skirmishes had broken out as the lines of battle began to shift and falter. Wraith and Tau'ri found themselves fighting in close quarters as the reapers weathered the storm and fearlessly pressed forwards in an attempt to overwhelm their opponents. Unfortunately it wasn't a strategy without its merits. The reapers possessed a physical conditioning that set them apart from the humans and Wraith they were fighting. They had been bred to be at the peak of physical strength and endurance, the very limits of what could possibly be achieved through genetic manipulation. Even Wraith drones did not undergo such a process when they were created and arguably they were born naturally, unlike the reapers. The allies may have been able to pick a few of the charging reapers off but there always seemed to be more behind them ready to dive into the melee or resume firing from where their predecessors had left off. An enemy without fear charging right at you and firing all the way does not make for an easy kill, especially when you value your life enough to take cover to avoid the incoming fire.

In one small section another one of the countless skirmishes was under way. A small force of Tau'ri and Wraith had ambushed a squad of reapers as they made their way to join the main cluster. The reapers though, instead of doing what any sane opponent would do and taken cover, had continued forwards and used their superior numbers to pile into the allies before they could cut them all down. Now the Wraith and Tau'ri were desperately fending off their opponents in hand to hand combat, and they were struggling. As a reaper charged a lone marine it let loose several blasts from its plasma rifle, several of which struck the marine in the chest. The force of which was sufficient to knock the poor marine to the decking dazed but alive, luckily the trinium/polymer chest plating had held but just barely. As the poor marine attempted to come to her senses the reaper stalked forwards and slammed her back down to the decking when she tried to get up. When it levelled its rifle at her more vulnerable helmet, ready to deliver the finishing blow, it suddenly reeled backwards as two energy blasts struck it in the chest. These blasts were quickly followed up by a blow to the head from a Wraith warrior with the butt of a spear rifle rendering the reaper just as dazed as the unfortunate marine had been. An ironic blast to the head and the reaper was out of action. As the Wraith warrior turned to help the marine to her feet she suddenly pulled out her sidearm and fired repeatedly. Behind the Wraith a reaper slumped to the decking, its head riddled with bullet holes.

As the Wraith warrior helped the marine to her feet the two shared a nod of respect, then both turned and started firing at the next wave of reapers. Around them lay the still bodies of friend and foe alike.

Across the station similar scenes played out as the Tau'ri and Wraith were bonded by the heat of battle.

Around the gate room the defending forces had formed a bottle neck, luring in the reapers to the gate room itself while the ground pounders formed up on mass around the control room and the surrounding corridors. Meanwhile mixed teams of Tau'ri and Wraith had been dispatched to whittle down the approaching forces as well as the stragglers. The bottle neck seemingly opened up to the wide space of the gate room but in reality the bottle had been plugged by the five Titans that had been unable to move out of its confines. Between them the five Titans turned the reapers to a pile of pin cushions as they were pricked by thousands of plasma bolts. The mass of bodies in front of the entrance began to get so high that the Titans were forced to take a few steps back just to allow more reapers to actually get in. With barrier/capacitor shields active though the reapers could not bring enough firepower to bear to tax the shields to the point of failure. If the shields of one Titan began to falter it would step back to allow the others to take more of the hits while its shields recharged to an acceptable level.

The battle was hard fought but it did seem like victory was in sight. Luckily it was the allies that could see it.

* * *

_**Kalen Aror**_

The ship shook as plasma round after plasma round impacted her shields. On the bridge Xander's face was a mask of concentration as he worked to co-ordinate the mixed fleet, counting on the ships crew to keep the ship safe. The _Aror_ may have been taking a pounding but she was certainly giving far more than she was taking.

Plasma beams fired in pairs shattered shields while ion bolts smashed into armour plating and the Zarasians responded with a torrent of green plasma bolts.

The O'Neill's and Pegasus's, along with the _Aror_, were soaring along the outskirts of the Zarasian fleet mass picking off what ships they could while attempting to avoid the hailstorm of plasma rounds directed at them. The Zarasian fleet firing on mass was enough to fill the skies with a wall of green. That amount of firepower was enough to bring down even the advanced shields of the O'Neill's with ease. The only way for the big ships to survive was to scatter and avoid a mass of directed firepower while the much smaller Night Fury's were flying in their hunting packs and had actually dived in amongst the enemy fleet numbers. Slipping in between the enemy ships in attempt to avoid the incoming firepower was the only way for the Night Fury's to have a shot to survive. With the enemy ships pulling closer and closer together though it was becoming harder and harder for this tactic to prove effective as they found themselves unable to keep together and fit between the smaller gaps. But the Zarasian ships were apparently not above scraping shields to score a hit of some form.

The fighter battle was even more intense with the F-302's outnumbered by the Zarasian fighters by nearly double. Dogfights had broken out across the entire battlefield as the 302's fought to keep their larger counterparts from dive bombing the capital ships and boarding them. To counter this tactic the 302's had begun to target the Zarasian warships with their heavy ordinance forcing the Zarasians to target them in return. Despite their more impressive weapon suite the 302's found themselves having difficulty taking down the heavy Zarasian fighters without multiple successful strikes. It sometimes took as many as six fireflies to neutralise an enemy fighter but luckily the NPD's were proving to be more effective one hit kill weapons.

Unfortunately the Zarasian flagship, while deemed off limits as a target, was proving to be a more tempting target by the second as it went hunting after the enemy ships after Zarin apparently realised that his ship was not being targeted.

So far the allies were winning, with their capital ships picking off Zarasian warships at their leisure while the fighters easily achieved positive kill ratios by fully utilising their impressive array of missiles.

Unfortunately Xander was still worried about losses on their side. Whenever a ship looked like it was about to lose its shields Xander ordered the ship to pull out of the battlefield to recharge its shields. In some cases this meant entire groups of Night Fury's were forced to pull out and even though they had taken no ship losses their fighters weren't proving as fortunate. Several of their ships had even been forced to perform a hyperspace jump to avoid being destroyed outright as they sustained heavy damage from multiple strikes.

The reason for this strategy was because of the potential for reinforcements to arrive to aid the Zarasians. With their power reserves diverted to shields the Asgard and Tau'ri ships had no warning from their advanced but energy intensive sensors as to approaching ships in hyperspace. Zarin had already displayed the ability to summon up a fleet of three hundred ships out of nowhere so who knew how many other ships he had in their fleet or even on their way.

Xander's concentration was momentarily broken as warning signals flashed around the Zarasian flagship. Until a moment ago the ship had been chasing after an O'Neill but now was moving erratically through space until the lights from the sublight engines died and the ship began to drift.

Intense power fluctuations registered on sensors until all energy readings from the ship dropped to the point that they were barely detectable. Shields, weapons and engines were all were offline, seemingly for no reason at all. As the Tau'ri would say though you do not look a gift horse in the mouth and Xander knew this was too good an opportunity to simply pass up, especially with a cluster of warships moving to cover the crippled ship.

"All ships prepare to pull out on my order. Lone wolves move to the Zarasian flagship and beam out Jakose and Sovaer once you have a lock on their subcutaneous transponders. Hunters and fighters run interference."

Night Fury's and 302's were suddenly chasing after the Zarasian ships as they moved to protect the flagship and their illustrious leader while the Zarasian fighters attempted to block them. Meanwhile the heavier Tau'ri and Asgard ships closed in and one of them plucked the Minister and his bodyguard from the bowels of the flagship.

With the Minister and Jakose back in safe hands Xander smiled a predatory grin.

"All ships pull back and initiate Silver Storm manoeuvre."

* * *

**Please Review.**


	43. The Reapers Price

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Things are going at hyperspeed as of late, which means eventually they are going to have to slow down. I'm sorry to say that i need to wind things down a bit in order to reach the next round of action but i'm hoping this chapter will be just as memorable.**

**BIG Z1776: One week ends another begins, one battle ends another is just on the horizon.**

**Shadows of Realm: Or there was something else going on that won't be apparent until later. Sometimes there is more happening than it appears from a single perspective.**

**Cdoctor: Battle forges comradeship.**

**Oddliver: The way most fighters are designed, especially these versions, you rarely get close enough to see whats painted on the hull.**

**s-david-m: Unfortunately that's going to be true.**

**Kevin Trevino: It hasn't been asked and i had considered it and it is possible. The only problem is that while they have access to the general info like most important databases the juicy stuff isn't readily available. Its pretty simple to search the database once you have a translation program but if it were that easy they would already know how to make ZPM's and they've been looking for that from day one.**

**Seraphin2011: Have no fear your patience will be rewarded.**

**Osced: Yes he was.**

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_ Computer Core**

Sovaer dodged another bolt aimed for his head and fired one in return. He found himself surrounded by orbs and all of them were glowing an oppressive red. Eager to end this as quickly as he could he plucked out random data streams from those swirling around him, copying what data he could to his storage chip.

He had lost count of how many orbs he had shot down and had never been certain how many orbs there were attacking him. All he knew was that he was surrounded by a swarm of them and they were all gunning for his head. He couldn't take down that many in a straight up fight, let alone when he had to steal data at the same time. He strongly suspected that the computer core was generating new ones at a constant rate, which was why new ones were seemingly appearing from nowhere.

With a graceful leap he flew through the so called air, letting loose a flurry of bolts as he soared at the orbs around him. Landing solidly on his feet he snagged a nearby data packet before rolling to avoid another burst of fire. If he could keep moving then he could survive this just long enough for help to arrive.

Then he spotted it. A single fat orb covered in spines, crackling with energy. It was just floating there, seemingly not a threat to anyone. But he knew that couldn't be true. That thing, whatever it was, had to have a purpose of some kind. Before he could even begin to consider what it was though bolts of lightning shot out from it and one of them hit him square in the chest. The energy arced between him and the orb but as far as he could tell nothing was happening. He felt no pain and his avatar was undamaged. He couldn't understand it.

Then he rolled to avoid another flurry of bolts coming his way and he noticed the bolt of lightening was still connected to him. As he moved it stayed locked on him and still appeared to be doing nothing. It was frustrating that it seemed to have no discernable purpose and yet figuring out what it was supposed to be doing was taking up time in his thought processes and was slowing down his response time. He had been playing a constant game of cat and mouse with the system defences, constantly ducking and dodging to avoid being struck while snagging what data packets he could. Very rarely he would even fire off a few pot shots in an attempt to lower the count of enemies he faced. As a trained marksman he generally disapproved of firing blindly but in this situation, facing a veritable wall of enemies, the odds of him actually missing were slim. Ironically it actually improved his odds of survival to fire wildly rather than aim since it allowed him to keep moving without slowing down to line up a shot. More than a few orbs had gone down as a result of his hit and run strategy and more importantly he had been able to grab a number of data packets. He didn't have a clue what was in any of them, and for all he knew they could be personal logs, but that didn't mean he was going to stop. He intended to keep going as long as possible and gather as many packets as he needed, and only then would he cut the connection.

It was as this thought crossed his mind that he realised what the mystery orb did. The damn thing had established a connection to him, that's what that weird lightning was. There were only two reasons he could think of to establish a connection to his avatar. One of which was to transmit a virus to him to destroy the avatar, but since that clearly wasn't happening that only left the less favourable option. The orb was using its connection to his avatar to trace the connection his avatar had in the system, which meant that the orb would eventually find out where he had connected to the core. His own safety wasn't as much of a concern but Jakose was with him, and if they found where he was they would find where Jakose was.

He immediately started firing at the spiky orb but the others moved to take the hits and those that got past struck a barrier surrounding it. He knew at that point that he had officially run out of time. He couldn't possibly hope to take down those things defences and the orbs around it in time to prevent his connection from being traced. Diving to avoid yet another barrage he threw caution to the wind and grabbed as many data packets as he could while on the move. His slower pace of movement meant that, though he was able to grab more data packets, he was now an easier target to hit. Bolt after bolt struck him but he paid them no mind and just kept gathering data packets until his avatar felt ready to crumble.

With the last of the data packets he could reach secured in his data storage chip he pulled out the black virus launcher. With a practised ease he ejected a large canister from the heart of the weapon. Staggering forwards he threw the canister in the direction of the spiky orb. The orbs paid the canister no mind, so Sovaer was forced to do the job himself. With a carefully aimed shot he hit the canister, causing the casing to crack and splinter and a black substance to ease from the gap created. A second shot shattered the casing entirely, leaving a large hole in the side. A split second later a black substance burst out of the canister and spread in all directions. The substance was of course the black virus and with its containment shell coding damaged the virus spread throughout the computer completely uncontrolled.

As the virus spread rapidly it consumed the spiky orb, and the orbs around it, which immediately severed the connection to him. The remaining orbs began targeting the expanding smog and him as well. His avatar though had been too badly damaged by the attack for him to get away and the smog was closing in on him fast. Nevertheless the stolen data was safely tucked away so even if he died they could remove the chip and still get the data. He didn't have time to carry out the disconnection procedure and knew that if he screwed it up he could potentially corrupt the data he had stolen as the corruption spread to the chip. Unfortunately the same could be said if his avatar was destroyed by the virus since it would travel back down the link to his real body and infect the chip. He had been finished from the moment that he had triggered the defences by sabotaging the ship. He attempted to manually disconnect and they could potentially trace the connection. He had his avatar destroyed and they could again trace the connection. He disconnect forcibly or manually while they had that connection trace running and they would definitely trace the connection. He knew that he only had one shot of getting out with the data intact at this point and in a way to keep Jakose safe. Resigning himself to his fate he sent one last message to Jakose.

"Disconnect me now!"

If the connection into here was terminated then it would potentially damage his brain but it wouldn't then damage the chip. Also with his avatar gone the virus would have no link back to the chip in his brain and wouldn't be able to scramble the contents like it would do to anything else it touched.

With one last thought he accessed the sensor readings and to his delight saw that the Doom Bringer was currently in the middle of a battle with a fleet of ships that appeared to be of Averian, Asgard and Tau'ri in design.

As the virus slowly spread over him as it touched upon the complex avatar coding Sovaer gently closed his eyes, a small smile on his lips. With the gap in the firewall still wide open the black virus would spread into the critical control areas and the mighty Zarasian flagship would be crippled as its systems were scrambled. The shields would collapse without anyone having to fire a shot and their allies could beam Jakose and him, or most likely his body in his case, away. The Zarasians would potentially lose their leadership if the flagship was destroyed with Zarin aboard and Jakose could hopefully use what little data was in the chip to bring the Zarasian Empire to its knees in the coming war. He may be a casualty as a result of this particular victory but at least he could die happy in the knowledge that he had fulfilled his duty and saved his friend. As he felt a tug in the back of his mind as Jakose disconnected the link from his end he gave one final sigh of contentment before his avatar exploded, with streams of code scattering in all directions.

With his last conscious thought he had caused one final message to appear on the monitor in front of Jakose.

"I happily choose to do this my friend, for you and for Averia."

* * *

_**Celestia**_

The fighting went on. The fighting would always go on. Life in the Pegasus galaxy had been a constant struggle for survival. The expedition had learned this from day one when they realised they were in a galaxy that was hostile to their very present. The Tau'ri were a force to be reckoned and that meant they had disrupted the balance of power in Pegasus with their arrival. Now they had come so far and achieved so much they were viewed as even more dangerous. There were numerous powers in Pegasus that would like to see the Tau'ri fall but they would not dare act against them for fear of retribution. The Zarasians however seemingly had no fear of retribution. Their soldiers, the reapers, were lab grown husks so they had no fear of sending brave soldiers to their deaths. Their ships were crewed, manned and, quite probably, constructed by the reapers so losing a few ships was no great loss. Their world, or even worlds, were unknown and effectively off the grid so they had no fear of them being attacked. Because of this the Zarasians were bold, to the point where they had angered the great powers of Pegasus. In one foul swoop they had angered the Wraith, the Tau'ri and even the hitherto unheard of Averians. Ironically if the Zarasians had targeted the Averians or Wraith alone just a few years ago then they would not have earned the anger of the Tau'ri. They would have remained a potential threat that was shrouded in mystery but instead they were a known threat which the allies had banded together to face. The fact that the Zarasians had pressed their assault even though they were aware of the power their enemies wielded was a sign that they must wield incredible power of there own. Since their technology was sub-par compared to even the Averian standard, but was still potent enough to prove to be a threat, then there power must come in the form of numbers and that meant they had a sizeable army and fleet at their disposal.

The power the Zarasians wielded was showing in the battle for Celestia. As reapers fought against Tau'ri and Wraith soldiers they demonstrated a level of opposition that made them a credible threat. The reapers had been genetically bred to be stronger than regular soldiers and though they lacked the same level of intense training that human soldiers, and now even Wraith, went through they wielded that strength like a hammer. If the reapers closed into combat with you then you knew you were in trouble. As per their standing orders the reapers would beat you into the decking then finish you off with a ruthless efficiency.

The allied forces had one advantage to their favour though that the reapers, due to their nature, would never possess. With a lack of individuality comes a lack of intuition, that sense that allows you to predict what your enemy is going to do and what your comrades are going to do. But more than that, it meant that the reapers were unable to synchronise with each other to the level that Wraith and Tau'ri were capable of. As they fought together the Wraith and Tau'ri learned about each other, learned to anticipate each others actions so that they could fight together more effectively and even anticipate the reapers reactions. That was what gave them the advantage over the reapers and allowed them to eventually cut them down.

The reapers might know no fear. They might not care that their comrades lay dead and bleeding on the decking beside them as they fought on but the same could not be said for their opponents. When their comrades fell they only fought harder, filled with a primal rage that spurred them on to achieve victory with greater enthusiasm. They would win, they had to, for the sake of those that had already given so much for a chance of victory they had to.

So they fought. They fought against every reaper that came at them with an almost unfeeling brutality. Whenever one closed in to fight them in hand to hand they would be covered by their comrades or would pull out knives to stab at vital areas. The reapers had at first been the ones on the offensive, then they found themselves under attack, then they found themselves pushing back the attack and continuing heedlessly and now they found themselves being rebuffed and pushed back. It was almost as if by attacking so fiercely they had unleashed an even bigger threat than when they were rebuffing an attack.

With the attack rebuffed the allies pushed the reapers back even further. The defending forces forced them back along the corridors they had recently casually strolled down while the groups that had been deployed to harass the reapers as they made their advance tightened the noose and circled around to box them in. Then they advanced until the reapers were surrounded and taking fire on all fronts. When the Tau'ri and Wraith encountered reapers they cut them down without restraint and when they encountered Zarasians they kept them alive for questioning later but rendered them unable to fight or flee.

Steadily but surely the last of the enemy forces were either captured or killed and the station was secured. The battle, like all battles, had not been without cost. Lives had been lost and the wounded that were being shipped through the stargate were in such critical condition that they might not make it. The extensive medical facilities onboard had been brought online and were in full operation, with the overflow being redirected off station to where they could receive immediate treatment.

Todd walked through the bustling corridors. Around him people were hurrying about, transporting medical supplies and carrying their injured comrades. It was inspiring to see the level of comradeship between Wraith and humans that had developed as a result of the battle to retake the station. Fighting alongside each other had developed a friendship between them that would have taken years in peace time. The evidence of this was right in front of him, quite literally as it happened as he watched a human gratefully be supported along the corridor by a Wraith. If this comradeship had not come at such a high price he would be happy. But as it went he only felt a sense of loss at all the lives this victory had cost them. The thought reverberated throughout the hive mind until only one word was on their minds, war.

Across the hive mind the chant went out. War, war, war, until at last Echidna added her own gentle but dominating voice to bring an end to the chant.

"War."

"War," every Wraith spoke softly and simultaneously.

Any human who heard them said nothing and simply nodded in agreement. War was upon them.

Todd continued on his journey to one of the many storage areas that had been converted into a triage centre. But this one came with a number of armed guards outside, Wraith and Tau'ri guards. This particular room was being used to hold the captured Zarasians, a number of whom required minor treatment due to injuries sustained when they were taken captive. After having lost so many of their own the Tau'ri and Wraith had not felt like doing things the nice way and the Zarasians had promptly been disabled and disarmed.

Looking around he saw over fifty prisoners seated, in some way or another, on camp beds with guards treating an eye on them.

"Is this all of them?" he asked a nearby medic.

The medic shook her head. "One of them will be transferred out off the station soon for further treatment. Apparently he put up resistance and had to be brought down. He took rounds to both knee-caps."

Todd nodded unfeelingly. Most of the Zarasians here were nursing bruises to their heads where they had been rendered unconscious, several were bound and restrained as they even now struggled to get free and shout curses and threats at their captors.

He saw the value in keeping prisoners alive but he would rather a prisoner died than one of their own because of the allocation of medical treatment. It was cold but then he had had to be cold over the years to do what needed to be done. He looked around the room for a prisoner he could talk to and it wasn't until he saw one of the slightly intimidating valkyries, Eir he believed, drag in two more bound prisoners that he found what he was looking for. One of them was frightened out of his mind and sporting a hole in trousers but no visible wound but the second wore a mask of disgust at his captivity but nevertheless remained silent. It was the second that he needed to question.

He waited until the valkyrie had deposited the two on their respective bunks before he approached the second.

"Hello human," he said with a slight hiss in voice.

"What do you want Wraith?" the Zarasian spat.

Todd leaned forwards until he was hovering over the bound Zarasian, noting the flicker of fear in the human's eyes.

"I want you to understand something human," Todd said a low voice so he would not be overheard. "Since you attempted to take control of a Tau'ri station you are their prisoner."

He paused.

"However if you fail to talk and give the Tau'ri what they want to know I will insist that you be turned over to us so that we might have a go at making you talk," he said very slowly. "Since you attacked one of our worlds they will no doubt agree to this and let me assure you that after what your people have done you can be certain of one thing. We will not show restraint!"

Todd slowly raised himself to his full height.

"I look forward to questioning you Zarasian," he hissed before turning to walk away.

"You're a fool," the Zarasian shouted after him.

Todd turned and was surprised to see the mask of defiance on the humans face.

"And yet it was not my actions that led to my imprisonment," he replied. "But you look like you have something to say so please continue."

"You will never learn anything from us," the Zarasian went on. "Zarin will not allow it."

Todd gave a low chuckle.

"Zarin is in no position to stop us."

"Don't be so sure. Failure always comes with a price and Zarin will see to it that we pay it."

Beside him the other captive shuddered, which puzzled Todd slightly.

Before he could ponder it more though a Tau'ri soldier came up to him.

"Sir I've just received word that they are about to fully disable the jamming device and will be beaming the wounded to the facilities on the fleet."

Todd nodded and was about to reply but was brought up short by the gasp from the first prisoner.

Turning around he grabbed the soldier by the soldiers and sent a telepathic message as he spoke the same words.

"Stop them from disabling the device!" he yelled.

"You're too late Wraith," said the second prisoner. "Zarin does not tolerate failure or for us to be taken prisoner."

With those final words that everyone heard every Zarasian in the room closed his eyes, and then their heads exploded and a slight tremor ran through the decking.

"Sir," said the Tau'ri soldier, listening intently to his comm. "Every piece of Zarasian technology just self destructed."

"And all the prisoners are dead as well," noted Todd. "I thought you said they were about to fully disable that device."

"They did sir," the soldier replied.

"Then it must have been a self destruct signal sent by an outside source," Todd surmised. "The jamming device must have been the only thing blocking it."

Todd noted that Zarin would have made a vicious Wraith, back when the Wraith were something different.

Eventually after analyzing what remained they would learn that a transmission had gone out when the jamming device had been disabled reporting of the mission failure. It was automatically designed to transmit if a code wasn't entered after a certain amount of time. When the jamming device went offline the device had transmitted the signal and Zarin had sent a reply in the form of a self destruct command. The command automatically triggered explosives placed in all Zarasian technology and implanted in the Zarasians brains. Zarin did allow for prisoners to crack under torture and give away information.

* * *

"All ships pull back and initiate Silver Storm manoeuvre," Xander ordered.

As the order was given the lighter Tau'ri ship, some of fighters and the Asgard warships performed a brief hyperspace jump to take them away from the field of fire. The remaining Zarasian ships had by now formed a wall to protect the powerless flagship and suddenly found themselves not under fire for the moment.

The reason for this is because every one of the Pegasus class, the remaining F-302's and even the _Aror_ had been launching ordinance before performing a short jump away themselves. Every launcher the Averians and Tau'ri had had fired NPD's and mini drone missiles on mass at the Zarasian fleet. Individually they packed a relatively small punch but there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, being launched. As they soared towards the Zarasian fleet fighters had moved to intercept but the drones had been pre-programmed for this and moved to impact the fighters before they could shoot too many down. When the last of the fighters had been eliminated the drones continued on, with the enemy flagship as their primary target.

The Zarasian warships naturally moved to shield the flagship from the mass of silver ordinance and took the full brunt of the impact. As the drones hit and the mini drone missiles split to unleash their deadly cargo the fleet was saturated by explosions as hundreds of miniature suns formed. When the last of the light from the explosions died out it revealed a devastated fleet left in the Silver Storms wake. Dozens of ships lay drifting and broken with wreckage forming a screen in front of them and there wasn't a single Zarasian fighter left intact.

In the wake of this destruction power readings from the Doom Bringer began to rise above minimal levels and the ship fled into hyperspace. Xander was tempted to give chase and was even about to give the order but a warning from one of the Asgard vessels changed his mind. More Zarasian ships had been detected on the way.

With the allied fleet in need of repair and re-arming the option of another battle was off the table for the moment. So the 302's and Night Fury's returned to their hangers before the fleet of ships entered hyperspace and headed to _Celestia_, with the slower _Aror_ in tow.

* * *

**_Aror_ – Medical Bay**

After he had beamed off of the Doom Bringer Sovaer had been transferred to the medical bay of the Aror. It was hoped that the Vanir there, who possessed a more intimate knowledge of his cyborg nature, would be able to provide better care for him after his forced ejection from the _Doom Bringer_'s computer core. When Jakose, at Sovaer's request, had disconnected him he had immediately fallen unconscious.

Now he lay on medical bed, sensors attached to his head and a cable running from his mental interface port. Jakose sat by his bedside, wearing a seemingly permanent grim expression and willing his friend to regain consciousness. So far though that had not happened.

Jakose looked up as a Vanir approached him.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He appears to have fallen into a coma," the Vanir stated plainly.

"As a result of me disconnecting him?" Jakose whispered. It was phrased like a question but to Jakose it felt like a confession.

"It is possible however we are still performing tests and cannot be certain what the cause was," explained the Vanir. "However we do know that whilst he was in cyberspace his storage ship was in near constant usage and data was being stored as well as accessed."

"He said he was fighting against anti-virus programs," Jakose said in a low voice.

"That would explain his access. But we do not yet know what was downloaded. However from the limited access we have gleamed into the chip we have learned a file marked as black virus is missing. We have yet to determine if this has a link to what happened."

"What does it look like happened?" Jakose asked weakly.

"Preliminary scans indicate a lack of activity in several areas of his brain and the links between his neural implants and brain stem have been damaged," the Vanir explained. "We suspect this resulted in his comatose state."

"Why are they inactive?"

"That is unknown however it could be a result of the black virus interacting with his neural implants which would explain the damage caused to his storage chip and the sudden loss of power on the Zarasian flagship. The damage to his brain has made the chip impossible to access so far without forcibly removing it from his central cortex, which would unfortunately result in his death."

"Sovaer, you brave fool," Jakose whispered.

* * *

An hour later Jakose arranged for a meeting between representatives of the allied races. He was angry and upset but he had to tell them what he had learned when Sovaer had infiltrated the computer core. That the Zarin that had originally lead the separatist group was the same one that currently led the Zarasian Empire.

* * *

**Please review.**


	44. Recovery

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: For a good guy you need an equally bad guy, in Zarins case he's covering for pretty much the whole cast.**

**BIG Z1776: A counterstrike will be coming, eventually but not right now.**

**Shadows of Realm: Now is your chance to find out.**

**Cdoctor: And the last one was pretty much a given. Twists and turns in all directions.**

**Oddliver: Thanks.**

**Kevin Trevino: Don't worry they can read what's in the database, unfortunately that's how they know it isn't anywhere they can find. The Ancients don't deliberately leave these things lying around without some form of protection i'm afraid.**

**vash1914: I'm always happy to hear your suggestions, i may not use them but i will listen to them.**

**stormwolf3710: The question is what it cost to survive.**

**Naginator: Thank you.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Then i'm explaining everything clearly.**

* * *

_**Celestia**_

In the aftermath of the fighting the allied forces were attempting to clean up after all the damage that had been inflicted on the station and on the Tau'ri fleet. In the long arms of the station sat the entirety of the battlecruiser fleet. A quarter of the fleet was undergoing repair work for extensive damage caused by the ion cannon volley while the rest were either undergoing minor repairs or had their crews relegated to other duties.

With the arrival of the joint Asgard and Tau'ri fleets, with the _Aror_ in tow, the station became even busier as the crews from these vessels added to the controlled anarchy and damaged vessels came into dock to receive work in a dedicated repair yard. With the crews of the Pegasus class vessels being pulled to perform duties on the station it was easier to simply have the vessels dock and pool their resources to get the Tau'ri fleet back in operation as soon as possible.

On in a small briefing room on the station that offered the occupants comfort and privacy a selection of individuals from the allied races gathered at the request of Minister Jakose. Todd, Sheppard and Thor, who was still in his combat form, sat around the circular table, waiting for Jakose to arrive and share the important news he had for them. The call had been so sudden that Todd and Sheppard were still wearing their races respective battle armour.

"So," said Sheppard, having gotten bored of waiting in silence. "Anyone know what this is about?"

Thor shook his head.

"No," said Todd. "But it had better be important enough to be worth wasting my time waiting for him to turn up."

"We all have things to do Todd," replied Sheppard.

"Minister Jakose also has a lot on his mind at the moment," Thor stated calmly. "We should be patient with him. The coming days will be difficult for him and he will need our support."

Sheppard sighed.

"What do you know about Sovaer's condition Thor?" he asked. "I've been trying to find out more but nobody's talking."

"Why do you believe I might have more information?" asked Thor innocently, although he had trouble pulling that off with his current rather intimidating form.

"Because I know you and the Vanir talk to each other and you want to know as much as I do," Sheppard shot back.

"I see," said Thor.

"Just tell him what you know," grumbled Todd. "It will pass the time."

"See even Todd wants to know," Sheppard said smugly, earning a glare from the Wraith.

"This is not to be made public," Thor stated before looking pointedly at Todd. "And it is not to be shared with the hive mind."

"However," continued Thor before the others could protest. "I cannot stop you from telling those you deem it necessary to know so I can only ask that you tell those who need to know."

"I will tell no one besides my parents," Todd assured him.

"I'll only tell the important people but I won't spread it around," Sheppard added. "They'll probably find out about this anyway."

"Agreed," said Thor.

"Now, what do you know about Sovaer's condition?" asked Todd.

"He is comatose," said Thor, leaving an awkward silence.

"What happened to him?" asked Sheppard.

"He apparently interfaced his mind with the computer of the Zarasian flagship in order to sabotage the ship," explained Thor. "In doing so though he was apparently discovered and in order to prevent his location from being discovered he had Jakose forcibly sever the connection."

"It caused brain damage," Todd surmised.

Thor nodded.

"Parts of his brain are registering as inactive and the rest are well below normal levels of activity. There has been no visible damage to his actual brain but his cybernetic implants have suffered some damage. Apparently a data storage chip he had implanted has become fused to his brain stem and the links cannot be severed remotely or surgically without killing him."

"Jakose must feel like crap," said Sheppard, saying what they were all thinking.

"Do you know of anyway to help him?" asked Todd.

"As it stands we are unable to quite comprehend just why this happened in the first place," said Thor, somewhat sadly. "Until we can understand the full extent of what has happened to him we will not to able to progress with a possible treatment. It is doubtful there even is a treatment for his condition, his brain is not damaged it is effectively empty. It is as if he is no longer inside him."

"Wasn't his brain damaged in someway though by a virus?" asked Todd.

Thor gave the Wraith a long look before replying. Apparently the Wraith had been more interested in Sovaer's condition than he let on.

"The virus affected his cybernetic implants but the effects should not have transferred over to the biological parts of his brain," stated Thor. "It appears though that it has had an effect we could not predict and cannot fully explain and this has resulted in his current condition."

"So it may have but it may not have," said Sheppard. "You don't actually know what the hell happened to him or how to go about helping him."

Thor opened his mouth to say something then hesitated.

"Unfortunately that would seem to be the case," he admitted. "It seems we can only wait and hope for him to wake up again."

Sheppard sighed.

"If he doesn't wake up Jakose isn't going to take it well," said Sheppard. "Those two are pretty close. It would kill him if he lost him because of this."

"My people have also suffered because of this battle," responded Todd, with visibly restrained anger. "The war has not even officially started yet and we have already taken losses."

"We all lost people in this battle," Sheppard reminded him.

"But it is not your race that the Zarasians are threatening with annihilation Sheppard," snapped Todd.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," said Jakose, walking into the room.

Todd and Sheppard had been so focused on venting their anger at each other that they had failed to notice the door open.

"What do you mean human?" asked Todd, failing to hide his frustration.

"I mean that Zarin threatens us all," replied Jakose, sliding a crystal into the circular holographic projector in the centre of the table. "If he is not stopped then he will subjugate all life in the Pegasus galaxy, then he will attempt to spread his influence to other galaxies."

"How do you know this?"

Jakose stared at the Wraith, his lined face showing the effects that his capture and subsequent interrogation had had on him.

"I'm not in the mood to explain everything right now and since you will no doubt want to know how I know what I know let's just cut to the chase," he said before pressing a button on the projector.

As the projector hummed into life Todd and Sheppard exchanged slightly nervous looks while Thor's face remained impassive. This wasn't the same Minister that they were used to dealing with.

The projection displayed an aged man standing in front of podium with a large curtained off shape behind him. Flanking him were two beefy men in Zarasian military uniforms.

"Before you ask, yes that is the same Zarin who broke away from our people so long ago," said Jakose, glaring at the image. "And yes this was taken from the Zarasian flagships computer core."

On the screen the elderly Zarin began a speech.

"Fellow Zarasians it is a glorious day for our people. It seems like so long ago when we first stepped out into the galaxy to prepare for our fight against the Wraith. It is our destiny to overcome them as decreed by the Ancestors. They gifted us with the tools to use to bring about their end and my people I can stand before you now to tell you that their vision, my vision and your vision is one step closer to becoming a reality."

An unseen crowd cheered at his words.

"My people we have come far in these past decades, ever since we cast off the shackles of those who would not accept what would be our destiny. We have done so much in these past years but it is with a heavy heart that I say to you that there is still so much more to do. The path to victory over the Wraith will be a long and arduous one and will involve more than what can offered by a single generation. I promised to lead you to some day lead you to victory and I shall keep that promise. Using the gift of the Ancestors we shall rise and dominate the Wraith. This gift was hidden in the Ark and has been hidden from you all so that we could one day harness all that it offers us. As you know I was there when we first entered the Ark, I was alongside the search teams as they searched through what the Ancestors left us and I made a discovery that would change everything. You have all heard the message the Ancestors left us and I ask you now to remember the final words of that message, 'Find the Ark and you will see the face of the enemy' and in a sealed section trapped in stasis that was what I found. Behold now the face of our enemy. Behold the Wraith!"

Behind him the curtain fell away to reveal a Wraith queen strapped to a metal chair. Her hands and legs were held in place by strong leather straps which, despite her desperate thrashing, she could not break and a leather gag covered her mouth and muted her cries of defiance.

"The archives from the Ark tell us that this creature was captured towards the end of the war when it was already too late to turn the tide. Those who captured the creature sealed it away for us to find and study, so that we could learn about our enemy while they were still ignorant to our existence. Today I can tell you that the first fruits of that research have come to light. Already plans are underway to create an army of soldiers using the DNA of her own children. We shall turn the enemies own strengths against them!"

Another round of applause followed this last statement. The two guards stepped closer to the captive Wraith queen. One of them pulled out an injection gun while the other loosened the bonds on her right hand, giving her just enough wiggle room to raise her hand to chest height but not enough to undo her other bonds.

"See how she fights against us. She is a monster! If let loose she would feed on us all until we were but dry husks. But fear not my people for I will not let that happen."

Another round of cheering followed before Zarin raised his hand for silence.

"Right now though she starving and I intend to give her a snack we will all find satisfying."

Two more drags dragged in the carcass of an unconscious and severely malnourished Wraith. Its muscular development was stunted to the point that it was practically a skeleton with its shirtless chest revealing skin stretched impossibly tight over its ribs.

"From this queen we harvested eggs to produce the creature you see here. In doing so we took our first step toward creating the army we need to bring this galaxy under our rightful control. Now the queen here has a choice eat or go hungry, but while I stand here before you I will not allow any Wraith such a luxury."

The queens eyes widened in horror as one of the guards injected her with the gun he carried. As the substance injected into her veins took effect her eye lids began to droop and her body went limp.

"Feed Wraith," Zarin commanded.

At the command the queen's hand shot out and clamped onto the Wraiths chest. Seemingly without any hesitation the queen fed, until the skeleton of a Wraith had withered to the point that its skin had almost turned to dust. At that point Zarin ripped open his own uniform to reveal his chest and skin wizened by the ravages of time.

"See how she submits to my will and now she will do so again. My people I promised you that I would lead you to victory against the Wraith and so I shall."

He approached the queen as the two guards dragged away the lifeless husk, kneeling before her.

"Wraith," he commanded. "Give me life!"

The queen jerked at the order, her hand clamping down on the exposed chest of Zarin. As she did Zarin began to convulse as the queens hand locked in place. As life force flooded into his body the years began to fade away from his body and Zarin grew younger before their very eyes. His skin tightened, his hair darkened and his muscles regained their definition and when the process was finished and the queens hand withdrew he was a young man once again.

Rising to his feet, his shirt still undone to reveal the toned muscles beneath, he turned to face the unseen crowd.

"I am Etere Zarin," he intoned. "The eternal leader of the Zarasian Empire from now until the end of time itself and I shall lead us to victory over all!"

The recording paused at that moment and the assembled races stared at the frozen image they realised that this was the same Zarin who had they had met some time ago, leading the Zarasian fleet against the Wraith. The man who had broken away from the Averians all those centuries ago was the same man leading the Zarasians this very day. He had found a way to stave off death and remain young forever.

The atmosphere was so grim it was almost palpable. Except for Jakose, who had seen this before, the race representatives were staring at the image with a mixture of horror and shock. The look on Todd's face was slightly surprising though, it was a complex blending of shock, horror, anger and disgust. The way his hands opened and closed it was almost as if he was reflexively moving them as though he still had feeding slits on his palms. Though they knew of his wish to protect his kind from Zarin and his ambitions they did not expect him to take such offense to this display, especially considering he had discarded his ties to his old kind long ago except for when it suited him.

Jakose slowly withdrew his hand from the button on the projector and stood up, the frozen image of Zarin remaining in place.

"In case it wasn't clear gentlemen," said Jakose as he turned to leave. "We are now at war with Zarin and the Zarasian Empire."

Sheppard and Thor nodded silently while Todd simply stared at the image in front of him. Jakose didn't even turn his head to look at them or wait for a reply, he simply walked towards the door.

"Wait!" said Todd, in a loud clear voice.

Jakose paused and turned to look at him. The others looked at him too and noticed that his clenched shaking hands and the fact that his gaze had never left the screen.

"You mentioned in your report that you encountered a Wraith queen on the Zarasian flagship, was it this one?" Todd asked, and they realised he was staring not at Zarin but at the barely visible image of the queen behind Zarin.

"It was," confirmed Jakose. "Why?"

"Because," said Todd in a voice so low it was almost a growl. "That is my sister Eurielle."

"Todd," said Sheppard, daring to break the silence that followed. "Don't take this the wrong way but I really have to ask. Did you…do you…like Eurielle?"

Todd's gaze snapped away from the image to lock with Sheppard's, fixing him with a piercing glare. If looks could kill Sheppard would be a blast shadow on the wall.

"Do not mistake her for those traitors Sheppard!" Todd growled. "Eurielle meant and still means as much to me as both my mother and father do. The bonds that can form between Wraith are stronger than can you know, more so for siblings."

Sheppard didn't have much of a response for that besides than a muttered apology.

Todd took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Eurielle shared my ambition to keep our mother safe," Todd explained. "At the time of the rebellion against our mother she hesitated but with my assurance that it would keep us all safe that she went along with it. But because of that hesitation she was treated with mistrust and eventually that fact led to her downfall.

"What happened?" Jakose asked.

Todd sighed.

"She was one of the first few sent on our retaliatory strikes after we had grown an army strong enough to take on the Lanteans. We had been building up our forces for some time, letting our enemy think that we were weak before we surprised them and struck out before they could hope to react. Some of them were costly battles though, since we knew the Lanteans would offer resistance in order to protect their more valuable worlds when they realised how much of a threat we were. It was during the battle for one of these worlds that I thought she had perished but instead it seems she was captured."

When it was clear this was the most that Todd was willing to part with for the moment the others decided to pitch in to break the awkward silence. The anger and frustration they had been feeling before had now diffused after seeing how dejected Todd looked.

"You're positive that's her?" Jakose asked, sitting back down.

Todd locked his gaze on him.

"I'm sure," he said adamantly.

Jakose sighed.

"Todd there is something you should know. The queen I encountered was heavily drugged and it seemed like they had operated on her," he hesitated before continuing. "I can't be certain but the wires going into her would seem to indicate that she had some cybernetic implants like the reapers."

Jakose fixed Todd with a look of sympathy.

"She may not be the same sister that you remember. I'm sorry."

"Do not talk about her like she is dead," Todd snarled. "I have already lost her once. I will not lose her again. I have not lost her yet."

Todd's gaze seemed to bore into Jakose with a flaming intensity.

"Do not give her back to me and then take her away again. I will not let you."

"Todd…" began Sheppard before being silenced by the murderous look Todd directed at him.

"I will not give up on her Sheppard," he growled. "Not until I see her lifeless body with my own eyes. Not this time."

"Todd, listen to me," said Sheppard firmly. "If we are going to get her back at all then we need to be able to find that ship and board it. Now as it stands we don't have a clue where that particular ship happens to be so we can't even destroy the thing, let alone disable and board it."

"Actually," said Jakose with a thoughtful look on his face. "That might not be entirely true."

* * *

In the control room Colonel Telford was having a heated discussion with the stations AI, although discussion is only appropriate if you use the term rather loosely. In reality he was giving a list of instructions and the AI was repeating them back to him.

"You are to identify station personnel by correlating life sign readings with subcutaneous transponder readings," Telford ordered while pacing in front of the hologram.

"Station personnel are to be identified by the combination of life sign readings and subcutaneous transponder readings," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"If a life sign suddenly vanishes or drops beyond normal levels you are to inform the command staff immediately," Telford ordered.

"If a life sign vanishes or enters danger levels I am to inform the command staff immediately along with the medical staff," said Celeste, earning a smirk from the command staff. "Confirmed."

If Telford was aware of the slight sass everyone could hear he didn't acknowledge it and kept pacing. He certainly wasn't complaining about the improvements the AI was making to the orders.

"If evidence of the presence of un-authorised personnel onboard is detected you are to alert the command staff immediately," Telford ordered.

"If sensors indicate the presence of un-authorised personnel onboard the station I am to immediately alert the command staff and local security personnel and attempt to identify the intruders," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"The presence of reapers onboard is to be reported immediately," ordered Telford.

"The presence of known hostile races is to be reported immediately to command staff and station security forces," stated Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Once reapers are detected you are to immediately access gate room weapons, which should be installed soon enough, and neutralise them," ordered Telford. "If they are in the hanger bays you are to seal them, beam out any of our personnel and then open the hanger to space. If they are in corridors you are to lock those sections down only if you cannot beam them into space. If they are still in the hangers after you have vented them you may engage them with the station defence drones but take it easy on the station."

"Upon detection of hostile forces they are to be engaged using appropriate defensive weaponry and assets and if that is not an option they are to be locked down and isolated from the rest of the station," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Any enemy ship movements detected by long range sensors are to be reported immediately," ordered Telford.

"Any ships matching a configuration of those used by hostile forces within sensor range are to be reported to the command staff immediately," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Any hostile ships with weapons range are to be neutralised immediately," ordered Telford.

"Any ships within weapons range matching a configuration used by hostile forces and not transmitting a friendly IFF are to be disabled," said Celeste "Confirmed."

"If there are any unknown ships within weapons range you are to raise shields immediately," ordered Telford.

"Any ships that not transmitting an IFF and do not match a configuration used by known hostile forces necessitates the activation of station shields and weapons being placed on standby," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

Telford suddenly stopped pacing.

"That's all I can think of for the moment," he admitted.

"Confirmed," said Celeste.

At their consoles Chen, Perkins and Jones suppressed a smirk.

Telford glared at the room in general and then resumed his pacing.

"Any errors in critical systems are to be reported immediately," Telford ordered.

"Critical system errors are to be reported to command staff and engineering teams," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Any physical damage to critical systems is to be reported immediately," Telford ordered.

"Damage to critical systems is to be reported to command staff and engineering teams," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"People accessing the secondary control room are to be reported immediately," ordered Telford.

"Access to the secondary control is to be reported to command staff," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Unexpected activation of the stargate will be reported immediately," ordered Telford.

"Unscheduled activation of the stargate will be reported to the command staff and gate control room said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Upon an unexpected dial in you will activate the gate shield and iris," ordered Telford.

"Unscheduled dials in will necessitate the activation of the gate shield and the closing of the iris," said Celeste. "Confirmed."

"Implement new operating directives from now on," ordered Telford.

"Yes Colonel Telford," said Celeste.

Her hologram flickered as the directives Telford had just stated were added to the AI's situational command directory and initialised.

"Operating directives have been logged and are now active," said Celeste.

"Good," said Telford. "How long until the software patch from the ISIS system will be installed?"

"Installation was completed before you began your list of new operating directives," said Celeste with a hint of mischief.

"Good," said Telford.

"Also Colonel I should add that system is included in the ISIS abbreviation," added Celeste.

"Thank you Celeste," said Telford, slightly grumpily.

"You're welcome Colonel," said Celeste.

One thing was for certain, Celeste had certainly inherited the same personality traits as ISIS as a result of the patch.

* * *

In the hangers of the station people were moving in a frenzy of activity, shouting orders and requesting parts. This was of course only for small scale and entirely internal repairs, for the larger and external repairs the industrial emitters had been brought into play. Beams of light were cast on the hulls of ships, stripping away the twisted patches of hull plating that marred them and the damaged components beneath and enacting repairs. To save both time and resources the damaged pieces that had been removed were recycled into pieces of working components and patches of hull plating.

The only way to actually repair the hulls of these ships to the standards the yard dogs required was to use the industrial beams. As it stood the hull was a single solid piece of metallic alloy, aside from the doors and blast covers over the windows, which meant that damaged pieces couldn't simply be replaced because there were no actual pieces. If they were desperate they could have simply patched the hull but with the resources of a dedicated repair yard available to them there was no need.

Despite the apparent frantic nature of the activity steady progress was in fact being made to restore the battlecruiser and destroyer fleet to full working order. Soon enough a horde of predators would be ready to take to the stars again and go hunting for Zarin and his empire.

* * *

**Please Review. Not as exciting as the last few i know but give it time.**

**I am now taking requests for what you want to see in coming chapters, the next chapter is finalised content wise and contains some parts that are long overdue but the future chapters are all open to ideas.**


	45. Borealis

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Your acknowledgment that i am being accurate about these things means a lot to me, my story would be a personal failure if i was misportrayed this. Standing between Todd and family, you better be an imovable object because he is an unstoppable force when he calls in markers and his own personal army.**

**BIG Z1776: Request acknowledged but OC's play a crucial part in my story so i can't simply leave them out, besides at one point everyone was an OC but i do admit i need to look in on our guys a bit more. A recon mission for the gang is impossible however since they don't do that anymore and they are too important to risk.**

**Shadows of Realm: Zarin's pissed so yeah he's going to bring the thunder.**

**Cdoctor: Kull armour does have some advantages over current tempest armour but also has numerous failings as well. It is also not something they have access to unfortunately since Tartarus was bombarded into the ground to wipe out the Kull.**

**Oddliver: It is a possibility, not very likely but a possibility.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**drewc: You're welcome, i think.**

**Guest: They wear tempest battle armour. For more information see chapter 28.**

**Dave Dent: Enjoy.**

**Jedi Carpet: Destiny is out of it for the mean time since they're in stasis. The Hebridians i've touched on briefly but i am more focused on Pegasus at the moment.**

* * *

**Kolumnar**

The world of Kolumnar had undergone numerous changes in the past few years. Ever since a team of just four people had stepped through the stargate the natives lives had changed from a standard they had been accustomed to, if not happy with, for thousands of years. Taking up residence in the sole standing central tower of an abandoned city ship the royal family found they had the ability to utilise the cities control chair and the numerous drones in the cities stores and they used this ability to rule with an iron fist. Within two days of the arrival of SGA-1 though the monarchy that had had once ruled had become superfluous when an attempted coup coincided with a rebellion and forced the team to act. In order to stop a village full of innocents from being killed by the coup leader the team had drained the ZPM of the last dregs of power within it rendering the control chair and the drones it controlled lifeless. Eventually the team from _Atlantis_ had gained possession of the control chair, the drone stores and even a few powerless puddle jumpers in exchange for supplies. Now in the monarchy's place a democracy had been formed with an elected individual acting as the leader of the numerous villages scattered across the lands around the city ship. With warnings of caution the people of Kolumnar had ventured out into the galaxy and made allies of their own. Quite recently they had become full members of the coalition of worlds and taken their place amongst the galactic community however doing so had come with a price. Knowledge of their world and what it possessed spread to ears that listened to whispers and a Genii Commander saw an opportunity to seize power by capturing a prize, and what better prize was their than a city ship built by the Alterans. For a time, a very short time, they had held the city and had even been in the process of having the Genii people defect to their cause until once again a team from _Atlantis_ came to the world and liberated the people from their new oppressors. With the Genii Commander captured, humiliated and revealed to have taken the city by force from innocents the coup had quickly been quashed.

Over the years since the formation of the democracy the people had slowly been excavating the city ship, that they had named _Kolumna_, in the hope of finding more treasures in its remains. However Minister Petra had been forced to accept a hard reality, so long as the city ship remained the people of her world would always be in danger of someone with similar goals trying to take it by force. The loss of the city ship would be a terrible thing since it was an extremely valuable piece of technology even in its damaged state but it was far worse than that. The city could not be removed from the world by anyone who might even be able to take it which meant that it would become occupied and her people would find their world occupied. For the sake of her people she had set into motion her plans to sell the city to the Tau'ri. It had taken many, many hours of negotiation and deliberation but eventually an agreement had been reached. When the city had been fully excavated it would be handed over, in terms of control at least, to the Tau'ri in exchange for a large cache of supplies and a new capital residence for the Kolumnarians to call their own. The new capital building would be a shining tower of architectural excellence, built of highly durable materials it would weather the ages and act as a centre of administration. Surrounding this miniature skyscraper would be numerous expanding circles of houses and other assorted buildings designed to hold a large number of citizens but not the entire population. The Tau'ri had advised the Kolumnar people that keeping the outlying villages would allow their population to expand beyond a single settlement easily. The villages would also be upgraded to the same standard as the buildings in the capital and include running water and power conduits placed in tunnels that would connect the capital and surrounding buildings like an underground web. All of which would be of a simple design that the Kolumnarians could duplicate as their need for more space arose as their population grew. Using matter replication technology the new villages and capital could be completed in next to no time at all once the Tau'ri were able to take possession of the city ship.

Part of the deal though had involved security for the planet as the excavation continued. Call it paranoia or call it common sense but the Kolumnarians were adamant that they would excavate the city ship themselves. That way they could take what individual items they wanted from inside the cities halls without the Tau'ri getting to them first, at which point they could trade them for even more supplies or keep them for themselves. The Tau'ri though had agreed with the need for security for the city ship and for the planet itself. To this end they had made the Kolumnarians acknowledge the need for a better location to keep the stargate, to that end they had built a bunker complex to house the stargate and its DHD to provide some level of protection against a gate incursion. Although the complex built was similar in ways to the SGC an iris had not been provided, like the Asgard the Tau'ri were kind but they weren't foolish enough to give away something that could be used against them.

In an expansive forest there was a massive expanse where a large hole had been dug. Not being aware of the full size of the city the natives had dug an expansive circle that covered a much greater radius than the city itself and in the centre of this steadily deepening crater was its twisted and broken remains lay. The impact damage caused by the force of the crash had been so severe that only the base superstructure and the sole central tower had remained relatively intact. Ten thousand years of damage had taken their toll and the rest of the towers had quickly succumb to erosion and collapsed. The central tower was actually only barely standing as it was and had to be supported as more of it was uncovered.

Around this massive pit trundled numerous vehicles belonging to the Tau'ri operating in groups and individually. The one thing that had become apparent to the Tau'ri after all their years of travelling through the gate was that any incursions that occurred through the gate, or even by ship, always utilised ground troops and neglected to use vehicles. There were hardly any worlds that regularly used the stargate that had even considered the idea of a jeep to go through the gate, let alone a tank. There were reasons for this of course, a stargate is only so large and building a vehicle capable of fitting through it and is highly effective in combat is no easy task. Even modern day tanks like the M1 Abrams could not fit through a stargate and even transporting them from a ship to the surface would be difficult so an enemy would never expect to find they were facing one. Even the concept behind Titans was quite new to even the Asgard. However sometimes a technological edge allows you to overcome a problem and in this case the Tau'ri had the technology necessary to overcome this one. By setting up transport pillars on the other side of the gate after they established a foothold they could then deploy even the largest of vehicles with ease. However first a foothold must be established and to accomplish that for the past few years the Tau'ri had been developing a number of smaller vehicles for use off world. This is not as easy it may seem however as to survive off world they would need to be far stronger than the variants normally deployed. To survive on Earth tanks would have to be able to deal with anti-armour rounds and commonly, in certain parts of the world, RPG's but to survive off world they would have to be able to withstand high intensity plasma blasts. As such suitable modifications had been made to the vehicles with only the chassis remaining unchanged and so their outward appearance remained quite similar to the originals they were based off.

The smallest and most common vehicle, and one that was now available to every SG team, was a modified version of the X2CV FLYPMode. Designed to hold four people on average the compact and nippy, potential replacement for the hummer, was perfect for off world use. The armour plating had been replaced with trinium, the engine by an electric motor fed by a naquadah generator and mounted on top was an X-699. Thanks to a little advanced technology the already intimidating vehicle had become a whole lot more fierce. Similar changes had been made to the British designed FV107 Scimitar however since the Scimitar was a purely combat designed vehicle the armour plating was thicker, the X-699 of a much larger calibre and the naquadah generator larger, the last of which allowed it to support a shield similar to what the Titans employed. When the designers had realised the need to accommodate for the many variations of vehicles that would be needed on the battlefield they had quickly turned to an already well utilised gem of the armoured division, the IAV Stryker. With its modular chassis it was the ideal platform to base a variety of different designs off of so that the Tau'ri ground forces would have a vehicle option for whatever the situation called for, be it troop transport or medical evacuation. The basic chassis remained relatively unchanged aside from the now standard upgrades, which included trinium armour, an electric engine, a naquadah generator and a Titan shield. However unlike the others one version did not feature the same technology that could be found on a regular Stryker and this was the Mobile Gun System version. Instead of utilising a 105mm cannon the weapon had been replaced in favour of a weapon that the military had been dreaming of for years and was now possible thanks to technology and materials acquired using the stargate, a railgun.

In the eyes of Homeworld Command however while the Stryker was useful in that every version of it could actually fit through the stargate it still lacked the raw power that a front line tank could offer given the technology currently at their disposal. To that end the designers had produced one final design based off a well known vehicle of the American military, the M1 Abrams. Naturally of course this version had been heavily modified to make it stand apart from even the other modified vehicles. Instead of simple trinium armour plating the Abrams possessed a heavier trinium/naquadah alloy that made it far more durable even without the more powerful than normal Titan style shield it possessed. The 120mm gun had also been replaced, once again by a railgun and the secondaries with X-699's of varying sizes. As was standard the tank also featured an electric engine and a large naquadah generator to power all of its systems. The new tank was a fearsome weapon to behold and when the Kolumnarians had seen the first of them appear in a flash of light courtesy of the transport pillar in front of the stargate they had been absolutely terrified of the metallic construct that radiated hostility. Once they remembered the fact that these vehicles had been brought in for their protection however that feeling of fear would eventually turn to comfort at just knowing the power these vehicles possessed. So far they hadn't even fired a shot but the Kolumnarians felt safer just knowing they were there. In all honesty they hoped they would never have to see them firing a single shot since the idea of what these strange metallic constructs could be capable of was quite frankly terrifying.

Dozens of these vehicles were to found, scattered along the outskirts of the city ship and patrolling around the settlements. Meanwhile overhead floated the Asgard Beliskner construction fleet slowly building the new homes for the Kolumnarians and repairing the city ship. However by the time they had finished with the modifications city ship would not be an appropriate name.

With all the damage the city ship had taken only the main base of the superstructure was largely intact, which thankfully included the stardrive and the three drone launchers as neither of which were replicable yet. They intended to build upwards from the snowflake base structure and re-design the city ship structure to something that better met their current needs. When they were finished _Borealis_, which was the name of the city ship as indicated by an entry in the database, would be completely unlike her sister _Atlantis_ in appearance.

* * *

**Earth – Homeworld Command**

In his office Jack O'Neill was doing paperwork. Normally this would be a task that he would ideally approach after all other avenues of travel had been well and truly trodden, in other words after he had done everything else that needed to be done. He knew his responsibilities required him to do paperwork and he had done his fair share in his time of military service but if he could do it later he would. He would ideally do it later rather than sooner but he would eventually do it.

Nevertheless he was actually enjoying doing paperwork and had been for the last two years due to one particular technological creation, ISIS. The _Enterprise_ was his personal ship, as well as being the flagship of the Milky Way forces and as such was permanently stationed in orbit of Earth. When you combine that fact with an interactive holographic avatar that can be projected all the way from said ship to the planets surface and you have an electronic assistant like no other. ISIS was now responsible for all of his appointments, could provide him with all the paperwork he had to fill out in electronic and holographic form and, better yet, could project television and movies whenever and wherever he wanted. Having access to every episode of the Simpsons along with the movie thanks to the large media library stored in the ships database meant he was very happy. Normally he and one Rodney McKay didn't see eye to eye but in this particular case he was very grateful for him for creating ISIS and to the Asgard for creating the basis for the technology.

"Commander," said ISIS, who was programmed to call him that even when he wasn't working on his ship. "Miss Xaioyi is here to see you."

"Tell her to make an appointment and that I'm not free for a week," said Jack casually.

"That's what you said last time Commander," ISIS replied. "She is here for the appointment she made then."

Jack sighed. "Well I knew this would happen eventually, send her in."

A little while after he spoke the woman in question opened the door and strode into his office. He couldn't help but wonder if she had been listening at the door or if she had started moving before ISIS could even finish talking. He was guessing the latter by the way that Shen started talking before she even sat down.

"General O'Neill," she said. "It is very important that I speak to you regarding our latest acquisition."

"I thought you would say that," said Jack, with a neutral look and the hint of a smile replacing the sour expression he had worn a little while ago.

"Go on then," he encouraged.

Shen frowned slightly at the lack of resistance she had come to expect from the troublesome General.

"We need to appoint a suitable commander for the city for when it is repaired and put to use," said Shen.

"Ah so this is about _Borealis_," said Jack with a cool grin.

"I trust you see the importance of a suitable leader for the role of running a city such as _Borealis_," Shen continued.

"Oh I do," agreed Jack. "However I really don't think city ship is an appropriate name for _Borealis_ at the moment."

With a nod ISIS created a hologram showing a three dimensional image of Borealis in the same state as when it had been fully excavated, before the Asgard started construction work. With only the central tower standing Borealis could hardly be called a city. If anything it was more of a giant metallic snowflake than ever.

"I'll admit that in its present condition Borealis is hardly capable of fulfilling its role as a city," admitted Shen. "But I am confident that once it is repaired and restored to its original condition it will be a fine addition to our resources."

Jack gave Shen a long stare, far from oblivious to the particular words she had been using.

"Why do I get the feeling a suitable commander would be yourself?" asked Jack.

Shen smiled. "Well naturally I am one of the people being considered for the role by the IOA and I already have Chairman Strom's approval."

"I'm sure you do," said Jack neutrally.

It was no secret that after the debacle with the coup on Destiny that Carl Strom's iron grip over the rest of the IOA was beginning to slip and rumour had it that Xaioyi and Coolidge had started to take on a quite a few of his responsibilities. It seemed that Strom now had to worry about a potential coup directed against him.

"However I think you aren't aware of all the details," said Jack, enjoying the look of puzzlement etched over Shen's features.

"Do enlighten me General, what details aren't I aware of?"

"Well for starters," said Jack with a grin. "You clearly don't know that we aren't rebuilding _Borealis_ to its original specifications."

"Why not?" Shen demanded.

"Well for one we don't have the original blue prints for the city ship so rebuilding it isn't possible," said Jack.

He deliberately paused to give Shen a chance to protest. He wasn't disappointed.

"But surely a scan of Atlantis will enable you to produce those blue prints," Shen protested.

"As it happens no," said Jack, with a certain amount of cheer. "The geeks I have working for me are telling me, along with a number of structural engineers I might add, those scans cannot be relied upon to give an accurate picture. You see it's not as simple as producing a copy of what _Atlantis_ currently looks like since we're talking about a three dimensional structure not a two dimensional image. Over the past ten thousand years plus _Atlantis_ has taken more than a few knocks and they have left their mark on the city so any of those flaws could be carried over in the copy. Also since we are only looking at the end product we don't know how the pieces are supposed to be assembled so unless we can beam a whole city into existence we aren't going to be making a copy of _Atlantis_ anytime soon. If we ever want a city ship we will have to design one ourselves. So we've been forced to go back to the drawing board and get a little creative."

"Nevertheless that just means that a commander for the city is even more important so that they can oversee the construction," said Shen.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that," said Jack, his grin still present. "I already know exactly who we need for the job."

"I'm glad to hear that General," said Shen, with a grin of her own. "_Borealis_ needs a suitable leader to function properly."

"Indeed it does," said Jack, still grinning.

"I trust we are in agreement that I am the logical choice," said Shen, finally tipping her hand.

"Oh I don't think so," said Jack.

"What?" Shen asked in a low voice with an edge to it.

"ISIS kindly have Paul come over here please," Jack requested.

"Paul?" asked Shen. "As in Paul Davis?"

"Good guess," said Jack.

"The military should not be in charge of a city ship," argued Shen.

"I seem to recall a certain military officer who did very well at leading _Atlantis_," Jack pointed out.

"I hardly think a Lt Colonel is a suitable leader for a city such as _Borealis_," protested Shen. "There should be a clear command structure present which was one of the reasons for Lt Colonel Carter's replacement by someone more suitable."

"You're right," agreed Jack. "You're absolutely right about that."

That moment Paul Davis walked into the room, the stripes on his dress jacket being those of full blown Colonel and definitely not those of a lower ranked Lt Colonel.

"So I thought I should fix that problem," said Jack. "In my opinion he was well overdue a promotion for all the work he puts in."

"_Borealis_ is not something the military should be in control of," argued Shen.

"Oh I think so what with the modifications we are going to be making to her," Jack stated plainly. "Modifications our allies very much approve of by the way."

"I thought you were simply planning on rebuilding the city ship using our own designs?" Shen asked with an air of suspicion.

"And as I said there were several things you weren't aware of," said Jack. "One of which would be that we aren't building a city ship of our own design but rather a base ship."

"A base ship," Shen repeated.

"A military base," Jack added.

"You intend to turn the city ship into a mobile military base?" Shen asked in disbelief.

"With our ally's approval," pointed out Jack. "The idea is that we have a military base that can move as the front lines of a conflict are adjusted. We plan on utilising _Borealis_ for use by the allied forces in our conflict against the Zarasians."

"Paul why don't walk her through the designs," suggested Jack. "I think you'll be happy to hear Miss Xaioyi that the leader of _Borealis_ is fully aware of what will be happening to his command."

"Of course sir," said Davis. "ISIS if you would bring up the final designs."

"Of course Colonel," said ISIS.

The hologram revolving over the desk flickered and changed to show a fully completed base ship and Paul launched into his explanation, pointing to specific areas as he went on. It was quite different to a city ship, with the only similarity being the general snowflake shape and the central spire.

Interestingly though there wasn't a single spire on the entire snowflake structure aside from the central one, however even that wasn't a proper spire. The top part of the spire which contained the control rooms and the jumper bay was definitely present and above ground. However the lower levels were now apart of a ziggurat like structure that stretched out from the central area and along the piers. It was almost as if a single building had been built on top of the snowflake base. This had in fact been done so deliberately to not only allow them to make the base more structurally sound but also allowing them to make it air tight so that they didn't need a shield operating when they were in space or traversing from space to a planetary atmosphere.

The six piers each had their own purpose or rather the two different types of piers had their own purposes. The smaller piers conformed more to the ziggurat like shape, with several levels that slowly descended the further out along the pier they went. The very top level of these piers contained an armour topped runway that would open up to allow entry and exit for fighter craft and small craft. The hanger area was divided into three sections, with the runway being the central area and on either side were numerous entrances to the long hanger bay with another entrance at the start of the runway. Despite the numerous entrances though the hanger was actually one single horseshoe shaped structure and like the entrances areas could be sealed off by heavy blast doors and shields. These hangers were each designed to hold at least two hundred fighter craft and that was just the top level for this pier structure, there were still many levels below all dedicated to different areas. General manufacturing, storage and barracks for troops could all be found in these levels and along with the central section these areas accounted for what you would typically expect to find on a military base. The three large piers served a wholly different purpose being entirely dedicated to one thing. They were essentially individual shipyards and were a single solid block whose levels were the same size throughout the structure. Each shipyard was shaped like the classical form of Mjlonir, otherwise known as Thor's hammer, since ironically this shape fitted quite comfortably on the Alteran designed pier. The central section was designed to hold any one of the heavy ships of the allied races, be it an O'Neill, Pegasus or Aror class. The two wings of the structure each consisted of a stack of three hangers for the races smaller capital ships such as Tau'ri battlecruisers or Averian warships. The section where two piers linked together was now the location of a large tractor beam emitter and transport array for whatever use they deemed necessary. One slightly radical change was the relocation of the control room away from the rather vulnerable central tower to a location deep with the central areas where it would be better protected. As such the control and gate room would now solely be a gate room.

The base ship featured the same standard technology as _Celestia_ which included internal transporters, deep space sensors, Asgard transporters and matter synthesisers among other things. Power wise the base ship was being given an upgrade over even the upgraded city ships, as aside from three fully charged ZPM's the base ship possessed seven neutrino ion generators acting as a secondary power supply, with one on each pier and beneath the central tower. There were even a few naquadah generators dotted around the base ship acting as an emergency power supply. These generators on top of the ZPM's were needed to power the base ships rather impressive defences. Aside from the barrier style shield that could be found on a city ship, which admittedly was weaker than the original since they couldn't replicate the completely destroyed original shields for the city ship, there was a capacitor style shield that lay just on the inside of the barrier shield. The idea was that if the barrier shield was hit by a weapon capable of penetrating it the capacitor shield would take the damage and the base ship would be undamaged and the capacitors could simply be recharged. To compliment the impressive defences were some very powerful weapons. On each of the shipyard piers were a dozen ICT's while on each of the other piers were a Grodin, four APB's and an Alteran designed drone launcher. Each of the drone launchers linked to their own personal magazine which contained ten thousand of the Tau'ri designed NPD's, an impressive amount when compared to the mere two thousand total that the Pegasus class carried even with seven launchers. Since these were all designated to be heavy anti ship weapons there were dozens of computer controlled railguns scattered across the tops of the base ship for the purposes of point defence.

When _Borealis_ was rebuilt, which would be very soon given the effort being put into the task, the base ship would be a veritable mobile fortress.

"You cannot be serious," Shen spluttered and in Jack's opinion personal opinion looking absolutely gob smacked. "You would waste something as potentially valuable as a city ship as a military base."

Jack shrugged. "Right now we need a decent military base and _Atlantis_ isn't one. Besides like I said before we can't rebuild _Borealis_ to the standards it used to be and once we finalise a design for our version of a stardrive then we can always build our own version."

"So why not just build a military base yourself and rebuild _Borealis_ using your own city ship designs?"

"Because we need a mobile military base to help us fight a war much more than we need a city ship designed for civilians," replied Jack. "Besides we aren't even close to finishing the designs for our version of a city ship yet and given our lack of a need for one we probably won't be building one for a long time to come."

"The other members of the IOA won't stand for this," Shen protested. "We will not allow it without at least some concessions."

"The other members of the IOA don't actually get a say in this," Jack said sternly. "You seem to forget that the IOA don't have a say over the military matters of Homeworld Command despite your presumptions. You may have leveraged yourself some control over the SGC because of a threat and Atlantis because of the joint nature of the program but this is strictly my ball park and your authority means squat. Homeworld Command was established to deal with military matters and since it is not our resources but those of our allies that have allowed us to even build our first base ship the opinions of people without a clue is not relevant. So I suggest you keep your noses out of where they do not belong and let the professionals do their jobs. Am I clear?"

Shen just sat there stunned, as was the typical reaction to someone on the receiving end of an O'Neill special.

"I said, am I clear?" Jack repeated.

Shen's response was to stand up and flounce out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her.

"I think it was clear sir," said Davis.

Jack smirked.

"I think so as well," he agreed. "You packed yet Paul."

"Packed and ready to go sir," Davis replied. "Thank you for the promotion by the way sir."

"Don't mention it Paul, you deserve it. Besides I can't think of a better person for this position."

It was true. In the eyes of many Paul Davis was a super administrator who lacked the same combat experience of other officers, which was a possible reason for his lack of promotions over the years. Davis had been doing the same desk job for years and he was actually very good at it and had become a key member of staff that Jack knew he could rely on. Davis was perfect for the position as head of the _Borealis_ contingent because it was a position that didn't require one to be fighting on the front lines but managing another key aspect of the military, logistics. Colonel Sheppard would be handling the tactical side while Davis would handle the administrative and logistical matters and together they would make quite a team. Couple this with the additional support of _Celestia_ and _Atlantis_ along with all the support of their allies and Pegasus would be certainly be looking at interesting times.

War had been declared on the Zarasians. Allied ships were currently roving the galaxy after Jakose had realised that Sovaer's tracking beacon was still on the Zarasian flagship and with its powerful battery should still be broadcasting. If they could get even the slightest trace of a signal they could eventually track down the ship and hopefully capture it, with the aim being to gain both intelligence on their enemy and Todd's sister.


	46. Change of Perspective

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Borealis is a good name, i was honoured to use it. Oh you can bet on the IOA sticking it to them when everything seems to be going our way. Glad i could fullfill one of your requests in this chapter.**

**BIG Z1776: More like the calm before the storm, much like this chapter. Beaming down tanks is something i plan to exploit to great effect in the coming chapters.**

**Shadows of Realm: And long overdue i would say.**

**Cdoctor: Having the tech and reverse engineering it are two very different issues though. You can say what something does but not how it does it.**

**Oddliver: Hardly used? They had to dig the thing up. Give it time and Borealis will fly.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Here's what's next.**

**stormwolf3710: We'll see.**

**romanhellhound: Thank you.**

**SkywalkerT-65: Unfortunately that won't stop Zarin from plunging the galaxy into war.**

* * *

**Argus Shipyards**

There were many different kinds of days Colonel Michael Pierce reflected as he sat working in his shipyard. There were slightly dull days when nothing interesting seemed to happen and it was just business as usual. There were the exciting days where he got to oversee the completion of another advanced vessel armed with amazing weapons using technology that had been derived from transporters of all things and made him glad he had accepted this posting. There was the nerve wracking days where the ships were in the final, vital and more importantly delicate stages of their construction. He was determined to not see a neutrino ion generator explode on his watch and he was always watching. Truth be told he was a yard dog at heart and ideally he would like nothing better than to be down there with the other engineers getting his hands dirty. However by sitting in the big chair he got to look at some of the more interesting projects coming down the pipeline, one of which was something he was particularly looking forward to.

With a flourish he signed the last piece of paperwork that signified all checks had been completed and would approve the launch of the _Relief_. Students of history might recognise the name as the being the same as the US Navy's very first purpose build hospital ship and that was a fact that hadn't changed in this case. With the _Nightingale_ being deployed to Pegasus to act in a supporting capacity during the upcoming conflict a new ship was required to fill her place and provide aid in the Pegasus galaxy.

As it stood construction for more ships was being temporarily halted as the need for other things became more apparent. With _Celestia_ staying in Pegasus for the foreseeable future the station was more than capable of providing logistical and repair support for the fleet there, especially with a mining world located in the very same system. However there was still the issue of providing logistical and repair support for a sizeable fleet in the Milky Way. With the entire fleet of Pegasus class vessels in the next galaxy the Milky Way lacked the logistical boost that the vessels had been purpose built to provide. Arguably it would surely just be easier in the long term, if not the short term, to simply build another station like _Celestia_ in orbit and leaving the original in Pegasus. It was a thought for the future but in the meanwhile they were going to stick with the simpler option.

In geo stationary orbit, directly over the Alpha Site, they had constructed a Midway II class station with a dozen additional modules attached to it, all for the purposes of providing fleet support. Now arguably at some point they would need to expand the Argus facilities to better accommodate so many ships however keeping Argus in its current form was quite useful for the short term. By keeping the facility at its current size they effectively had a hidden ace that they could utilise as they saw fit and even build new ships later on. Aside from a powerful dome shield to protect the shipyard there were also a number of holographic emitters placed around the facility to create the illusion that the landscape had been untouched by the shipyards presence. So long as any ships built in the shipyard exited under cloak whenever anyone happened to be looking no one need know that Argus was there. As an added bonus the shipyard was even on the opposite side of the planet to the Alpha Site.

However if this plan of keeping the shipyard hidden from sight was to work then they would need somewhere to allow the larger ships of the fleet to dock for repairs. The modules were useful but they were only capable of supporting the smaller vessels of the fleet and with the inclusion of _Borealis_ to the fleet a new dock was now more important than ever. So they had decided to kill two birds with one stone and build a single birth that could hold something the size of a city ship or in its place a number of Pegasus class vessels.

The new space station was, quite frankly, a huge 5km plus disc with six folding 3km arms attached to the edges. These long arms had numerous other smaller arms running along them that were adjustable themselves and like the bigger versions they were covered in industrial beam emitters. Normally these arms would remain open and uncurled but when a city ship docked a number of procedures would be initiated. First of all tractor beams would be activated and snare the city ship before pulling it down inside the reach of the arms and holding it in place. Then the arms would curl inwards over the six piers of the city ship and the smaller arms would soon follow until the entire city ship, or base ship, was enclosed in their grasp. Numerous large neutrino ion generators would then channel power into the industrial beams and repairs could begin. To further support this repair role there were two types of shields being employed to protect the dockyard. The first was an outer capacitor based shield that was designed to protect it from harm while the second was a weak but sturdy atmosphere retentive force field that would contain a breathable atmosphere at all times. To bolster the defence of this new station on the underbelly of the station were large hangers designed to hold thousands of drone fighters and ringing the station were sizeable numbers of the various energy weapons that the Tau'ri had at their disposal.

It was a massive undertaking to build this new station, a station which no one had even thought of a name for yet, but the Tau'ri took pride in the fact that this colossal hulk of material was currently sitting in orbit as a result of all their hard work. Unlike _Celestia_, which had been built entirely by the Asgard, the new station had been constructed entirely by human hands and while admittedly had been built using acquired technology it was their achievement and theirs alone. It was a pity that _Borealis_ couldn't be completed solely by their hands but it was a joint project and they were responsible for coming up with the design all by themselves. Even the Asgard had been impressed with the design for the base ship once the reasons for the modifications had been explained. When _Borealis_ had been revealed in its uncovered and effectively scuttled state the Asgard had been quick to acknowledge that that it would never be the same city ship again, it couldn't even be called a city ship now. Turning it into something the allies could be proud of was a much greater kindness than simply leaving it in that, quite frankly, ravaged state.

What had Michael scratching his head though, and as it turned out nearly everyone else who took a moment to think about it, was how _Borealis_ had managed to end up in that state in the first place. Even taking into account the damage caused by ten thousands years of structural fatigue it didn't explain how the city had come to be buried under all that dirt or the destruction of the towers. He knew for a fact that his grease monkeys had a book going as to just how it had happened. Theories ranged from the safe bet of a Wraith bombardment from orbit to the long shots of a freak act of nature like a mud slide. Personally he believed that _Borealis_ had been ambushed by a Wraith fleet when the ZPM's were low and the shield had been collapsed to solely include the control tower. In the resulting fire fight the city ship would have lost a number of towers and been knocked out of orbit resulting it coming in at such a steep angle that the rest of the towers would have collapsed as a result of re-entry and probably additional weapons fire. If what he suspected was true then the city ship would have hit the ground with barely any towers except the central one standing and at such a velocity that it would have cut into the dirt like a knife. The earthquakes the planet was known for would have then resulted in the rest of the dirt subsiding and the city being completely buried aside from the central tower. Of course that was just his personal theory and there was no guarantee that they would even know for sure unless the information could be recovered from the damaged computer core, assuming it was even there, and if not then all bets were off.

Looking at his grease monkeys clambering over the latest prototypes he couldn't help but smile. Argus wasn't just a shipyard. It was also home to some of the craziest and creative geniuses that he had ever met. Just the other month he had walked into the mess hall to a discussion on how they could replicate the stargate weapon that the Asurans had used against Atlantis using a Grodin. One side had been saying how it should be possible if you could channel enough power through the stargate to provide power for a barrier shield and the other was trying to shoot them down. He was happy for them to indulge in such conversations just so long as it meant they didn't take it further than the design stage without permission. He had a cabinet full of the weird designs his scientists and engineers put together that he was tasked with looking over and shipping off to get permission to build. As it happened one of those designs would soon be bearing fruit and it was rather funny how it had come about.

Pierce had walked into the mess hall one evening and had been thinking of nothing else than his dinner. That all changed when he noticed the two opposing sides that had formed and the very simplified designs drawn on the wall mounted white boards. The white boards were supposed to be used by the kitchen staff to put up notes or whatever speciality dishes were on the menu but they had long since given up ever after the techno debates had started and the grease monkeys would immediately make use of them. The current topic of interest was the Ori or more specifically their mothership designs.

The argument came down to the belief that if they had not used barrier shields the ships would be a lot more powerful and naturally those on the other side of the room were taking the opposite stance. Normally Pierce stayed out of these debates since he knew his grease monkeys wouldn't get out of hand but in this case he was actually interested in the discussion. It was certainly an interesting idea. The advantage of barrier shields was that they could be tailored for their environment and would hold strong as long as enough power was pumped into them to maintain them. However if a weapon that had more power than they did was used against them they would block some of the energy and the rest would just go straight through. The shields on the Ori motherships had been strong enough to withstand even the weapons of an O'Neill class warship which meant that the generator behind them was powerful. Hence the opposition argued that if they had pumped all that power into a capacitor they wouldn't have been so vulnerable to an APB. The counter argument to this was that the Ori had only given their followers simplistic technology and that they had been tailored for their purpose. The ships were basically designed to withstand any opposition they faced while being able to dish out enough damage to eventually crush the enemy.

Eventually when the two sides reached a stalemate Pierce tossed in the idea that they were effectively mobile weapon platforms. That had then moved them onto the idea of weapon platforms and from there they had started talking about the Lagrangian point defence satellites that had been employed to defend _Atlantis_ when it come under siege by the Wraith. In many ways those satellites had failed to be anywhere near as effective as they could be. They might have possessed multiple weapon arrays, hence the monstrous size, but they lacked a viable method of defence in the form of shields. That vulnerability had made them easy prey for the Wraith and anyone else with the weapons to use against them. So the discussion had turned to how they might build a better version of the defence satellites and that had resulted in them going back to the whole barrier or capacitor debate. Eventually the two sides had broken apart and come up with their own designs with the only real difference being that one used a capacitor shield and the other a barrier shield. The real downside to the barrier shield design though would be that they couldn't replicate an extremely powerful shield for a small scale satellite since they only knew how to build a bigger and stronger shield by massively increasing the scale.

So they had to build the strongest available option to them and in this case that happened to be a capacitor based shield as strong as a battlecruiser. The end design was a hundred metre satellite shaped like a cylinder that was lined with weapons and had next to no internal space. Weapons came in the form of a single Grodin and four ICT's with power being provided by a neutrino ion generator while a second powered the shields. Homeworld Command had approved them and they were building them as fast as they could before preparing to ship them out to the various Tau'ri holdings as well as keeping a number for themselves.

He knew that his grease monkeys wanted to see the new technology being shipped here through the supergate though and to be honest he couldn't blame them. The idea of establishing a working supergate that would allow ships to quickly traverse the distance between Milky Way and Pegasus was a dream of many engineers. It was just a pity that they couldn't build the ninety modules and the energy extractor themselves. Part of the deal with the Tomin and his people was that they would not be handing over the blue prints for the supergate or the extractor designed to draw power from the black hole. Since the Ori had designed them to prevent the technology from being stolen or even tampered with they couldn't even attempt to replicate the devices. Still it was nice to know that they got to get a closer look at the devices as they established a dialling interface connection before the _Nightingale_ shipped them off to Pegasus.

* * *

**Pegasus – Black Hole**

Colonel John Sheppard sat on the bridge of the _Weir_ waiting for the results of another scan of a promising black hole. His current assignment while the rest of the fleet was either in dry dock and being repaired or out searching for the Zarasian flagship was to find a suitably sized black hole in a suitable location to provide power for a supergate.

This may have sounded easy enough but in actual fact it was much harder than it seemed. For one thing they needed to find a black hole that was inside the allied territory lines and not in some unclaimed area of space where it would be easy prey to Zarasian attack, assuming they eventually discovered the thing. Unfortunately that was a very real possibility since the supergate would give off a massive power signature that any passing ships would be able to detect, which presumably included the Zarasian ships. Now arguably a limit on the area of space they had to search would make his job easier but it also limited the number of potential candidates they had to check out. The second criteria was to find a black hole that wasn't too small and weak to provide the needed energy for the power hungry supergate or too large and powerful that the energy siphon they would place near the event horizon would be unable to overcome the gravitational pull and not remain in the accretion disc zone of safety. The end result was that the _Weir_ had been popping in and out of hyperspace to perform a scan of every single black hole they could find in order to find the best fit for their needs.

Staring out in to the cold depths of space he couldn't help but think of what he would rather be doing than being stuck out in here in some random patch of space on this particular ship which actually made him think of something he would not. Or rather someone he should not, Elizabeth.

It had already been over two years now since they had goodbye for the final time and the worse thing was that they had all already given up on her a long time ago. They thought that she had died when the Asurans had captured her but now…now they all weren't so sure. He was personally convinced that the woman who appeared on Atlantis wearing FRAN's replicator form was Elizabeth. She had just seemed too much like the Elizabeth they all knew for it not to be true and what had they done? They had sent her through a random space gate as a sacrificial lamb to get rid of the other Asurans. He wanted nothing more than to go and recover that replicator body and download her into a new body, her body.

He glanced over at Rodney and knew his friend was thinking the same thing. Why couldn't they just go and get her and to hell with the IOA. Those smug arrogant suits had black balled them every time they had requested that they at least try to recover her, citing some load of bull about it being too much of a risk to have an active replicator around despite the number of contingencies they could put in place. The significance of the fact that the latest refusal had come after _Borealis_ had been taken out of their control was not lost on him. With their allies aid they could download her consciousness out of that replicator body and into a new organic one that was an exact replica of her original body. But no, they wouldn't even let him recover the body and keep her in a stasis pod until they had a fool proof plan in place to safely transfer her consciousness across.

He knew he should stop thinking about matters he couldn't control so he turned his thoughts to other things, like the Ori and the supergate about to be laid down when the _Nightingale_ arrived. He had read the reports about the technology the freed peoples had at their disposal, or rather what the Ori had given them to use and it was actually rather interesting. The Ori had been wanted to keep their followers at a limited level of technological development and as a result they didn't have the knowledge base to operate an advanced industry. The Ori, or their priors, provided all that their followers needed which helped promote their image of being beings worthy of worship and devotion.

In many ways the Ori had actually been quite clever in what they had given their followers. They hadn't actually given their followers, aside from the priors, anything for them to use. They had provided the priors with access to multiple molecular construction devices similar to those used by Merlin to construct the sangraal. These devices could only be used by the priors, which meant only the Ori's most devoted followers would be able to construct the components for both the supergate and the motherships along with the weapons for their army. It was very taxing however which had resulted in the motherships rather limited strength.

Ninety priors had laboured for days on end to slowly assemble the large modules that would make up the supergate went brought together, with each one building a individual module. The reason they couldn't acquire the plans for the supergate was because there were no physical blue prints aside from the knowledge residing inside each and every priors head. Thankfully the ability to create more priors was not something that was a problem with the head prior, the Doci, and the other priors being able to create more as they saw fit. As the technology level of the people advanced they would become superfluous and no longer needed as the people could simply build these devices without the prior's aid but for now they were needed. Designing an interface system for their ships so that even none priors could use them had proven tricky but wasn't too difficult for the Tau'ri scientists. Once the design for the device was understood by just one prior that prior could share the knowledge with the other priors using the telepathic connection that existed between them aided by the crystals in their staffs. Supposedly the crystals resonated on the same wavelength as the telepathic abilities of the priors and amplified them to the point where they could establish a galaxy wide telepathic web, at least that was what the priors had been told and in reality no one knew for sure.

One thing they could easily reproduce was the individual components for the molecular construction devices. One bright spark had the idea of networking several of the assemblers to a single control interface so that the priors could mass produce items in a fraction of the time with the same amount of effort required to produce a single one. It was a step forward for their people and it was something they were very grateful to receive, and in return they had acquired a supergate for Pegasus and another for Ida. Midway would still be used for transporting resources and personnel across galaxies but for ships requiring a quick deployment in the next galaxy the supergate would be used.

"We're done," said Rodney, interrupting John's musing.

"Done as in done done or we're ready to move on to the next one done?" asked John.

"Done done," said Rodney.

"About time," said Sheppard. "So do we have a winner yet?"

"Yes and it's within ten thousand light years of the Wraith homeworld and _Celestia_."

"Helm set a course and Rodney, get the industrial beams ready for use. The sooner we get this done the better."

"I'm on it."

To act as a control point for the supergate they were going to build a Midway II style space station without stargates that would have the dialling program installed on it to control the supergate. To defend against a possible incursion they were also building multiple defence satellites to protect both the station and the ships that would travel through the supergate. An identical set-up was being built around the supergate back in the Milky Way.

* * *

**Zarasian Outpost**

The outpost was a small one, by Zarasian standards, but like most Zarasian holdings it was heavily defended. It had been designed to act as a forward operating post so that ships would have somewhere nearby to return for repairs as well as an expendable base of operations that Zarin would not hesitate to sacrifice to keep his more important holdings hidden from view. Small it may be but you wouldn't think that to look at it from the outside. From an aerial view it appeared to be a vast complex large enough to be considered a full fledged, still expanding, colony and in the central dry dock sat the _Doom Bringer_, the Zarasian flagship lifeless where it floated immobile and unpowered.

The Zarasians should have been safe here in this secret base of theirs, surrounded by a powerful stealth field that would mask any energy readings within its wide confines from detection. They would have been very surprised then to know that the facility was being observed by two of the best scouts in Atlantis under the cover of Sodan cloaking devices, Teyla and Ronon.

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**Please Review.**


	47. Not Ghosts, SPECTRE's

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

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**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: You know me, just when a situation looks good it can always turn bad again. So far the allies are having it all their own way, so far.**

**BIG Z1776: The Asgard though won't interfere directly in Earth internal affairs but will be on standby to make sure it goes down well when they get the green light.**

**Shadows of Realm: You'll see, but i assure you its gonna be good.**

**Cdoctor: I figured it was about time that Earth got some additional defences.**

**Oddliver: Thank you.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Such is war.**

**stormwolf3710: Thats what happens when we bounce ideas off each other, hope the two are distinctive enough for you.**

**Naginator: All things are possible.**

**drewc: Thank you.**

**vash1914: Thank you for the good idea.**

**Chronus1326: When it comes to space travel there really is no such thing as simple tech. The problem is that the Genii for all intensive purposes are still only at about 1940s Earth level in their development when it comes to the majority of their technology. In order to let them make even as advanced as the Prometheus they would need a technological revolution. if you can think of a feasible way to do it though then i am all ears.**

* * *

**Zarasian Outpost**

Zarin sat in the control room, seething at the previous encounter with the allied forces. The aliens had proven to be much more of a problem than had been anticipated and the new Wraith spawn were not helping matters. If it had just been their former brethren the Averians and even this new Wraith incarnation then he could have handled the threat with ease and been done with them but these new enemies were proving difficult. His flagships accompanying fleet had been wiped out by their threat alone. True it represented just a small chunk of his forces and he had been up against what was believed to be the bulk of the alien's forces but that had shown that they possessed incredible power and technology, technology greatly more advanced than their own. If they were to deal with this menace then they would need to find a weakness to exploit. They needed to capture one of their ships and study its advanced technology in the hopes of duplicating it for their use, or at the very least using the design techniques to enhance their own technology.

What had him most annoyed though was that his mighty flagship, possessing the most advanced systems they had ever developed, was now a lifeless hulk sitting in a dockyard undergoing repairs. Somehow the prisoners had not only escaped but had broken through every system defence in operation and introduced a virus that had crippled the ships systems. Even the back-ups, when they had kicked in, had eventually been overcome forcing his ship to go to the only dockyard within range, this one. The truly annoying thing about that damn virus was that it had not actually destroyed the core programs, oh no that would have been too easy, instead it had left them relatively intact but scrambled them to the point that the computer core needed to be taken completely offline to prevent the ship from blowing itself up. When the virus had finally been stopped after it systematically targeted critical systems there was barely a fraction of the computer core left intact. Even when the ship had arrived in orbit over the outpost the troubles weren't over as the last of the critical systems had failed, though thankfully life support was on an isolated control system in case something like this happened. But despite this the only way to get the thing into dry dock on the planets surface had been to slowly lower it using an anti gravity suspension field and directional thrusters incorporated into a harness they attached to the hull. Attaching the harness had taken a long time, a very long time, and that alone had been enough to drive Zarin into a vindictive rage. Now he was being told just how long it would take to get the _Doom Bringer_ off the ground again and it was not making him any happier.

"What is the status of my ship?"

"The physical damage was minimal but the software problem is taking time to correct," stated Malek, the _Doom Bringer_'s chief engineer.

"What is taking so long?" Zarin demanded.

"As you know Etere the virus that invaded the system did not physically destroy the core programs but instead scramble the basic operation protocols," explained Malek, calm in the face of Zarins anger. "It was, quite frankly, a miracle that I was able to keep the back ups isolated and stable long enough to even get us here. As such we have to perform repair work on each individual subroutine one at a time or we risk systems overloading and exploding."

"Has the virus been removed?"

"Completely," confirmed Malek. "Not that it was necessary the virus self terminated after targeting and infecting all the control systems."

"Do you know why?"

Malek shrugged.

"There could be any number of reasons," he said offhandedly. "I believe it most likely that it was so that we could not analyse the virus structure and attempt to develop a countermeasure."

"So you have no countermeasures to this threat," Zarin accused him.

"The firewalls will protect against such a threat from a remote source," countered Malek. "If they are once again able to bypass every defence measure we have though then any security we have is effectively useless however that should not be possible to do again."

Zarin nodded. Malek was a capable engineer, very capable as it happened otherwise he wouldn't be working as chief engineer on his flagship. Malek knew how good he was and that gave him a bravery that many of his lackeys did not possess and made him fearless of his wrath. That sense of self confidence and iron will was something Zarin could respect.

"How long until my flagship is operational again?"

"It is hard to say at this point," Malek answered. "Rectifying the damage done to each individual subroutine does not take a set amount of time, some are easily corrected while others take a long time. It could be days or it could be weeks?"

"Why don't you simply wipe the computer core clean and then re-upload all of the data?" Zarin asked irritably.

"We tried and failed," explained Malek. "We believe the virus is preventing us from deleting the control programs."

"I thought you said the virus was gone?" Zarin accused. "I do not like being lied to."

"The virus is gone," said Malek. "However this is most probably the after effects of the virus still being felt. There aren't any alternatives that I can think of that would physically prevent us from deleting everything."

"Are you sure there isn't something else in the system causing this problem?"

"Our scans definitely show no other viruses are present," said Malek. "If there is something causing this problem then it can only be a virus."

"What is the status of the Wraith?" enquired Zarin.

"Contained and currently on lockdown until we restore primary systems. It's a good thing I insisted on an isolated system for the containment pod or she would have been rotting in there," said Malek smugly.

"Is she fit for use?" Zarin asked callously.

"The stasis capsule kept her stable and unconscious when the primary systems failed," explained Malek. "However I wouldn't want to try transferring her out of there until we can stabilise the rest of the systems and as it stands the rest of the hatchery is offline."

"I want her revived and put to work as soon as possible," Zarin ordered. "Make the hatchery a priority for reactivation. We need to replace the numbers we lost on that station."

"It will be done Etere," said Malek.

"Get my ship off the ground under its own power Chief Engineer," Zarin ordered. "We spent far too long just sitting in orbit outside of the protective bubble for my liking. I want to be off the ground the before our enemies arrive."

Little did he know that his enemies were already on his door step and had even put boots on the ground inside the stealth field.

* * *

On a rocky outcrop Ronon and Teyla stood observing the facility from a distance. Under normal circumstances they would at the very least be crouched down or attempting to conceal themselves in some way but this time they weren't afraid to stand tall out in the best vantage point available. The reason for this was the Sodan cloaks mounted on their fore arms of their Mark II Tempest Battle Armour Suits.

The suits were the first production models of what would eventually become standard issue for all personnel. The Mark II's were the closest in function to the original Vanir exoskeletons that the overall design was based off. While the Mark I's featured the standard hazard protection package along with an improved durability they lacked the strength bonus. The reason for this was that the enhancements in the originals had been designed to bring a Vanir user up to at least human adult level strength and given that tempest battle armour is designed for humans anyway it seemed rather pointless to include it in the Mark I. The Mark II however featured micro servo motors that would actually enhance the strength of the user, making them stronger than even a Wraith. The suits also had an added bonus of protecting the user from any radiation that the Sodan cloaking devices might give off as part of their basic function, not that would stop a certain Satedan from complaining about the odd feeling one got from wearing the form fitting suit.

"This thing feels weird," said Ronon as he bounded down the hill side.

"Think of all the benefits that the suit provides you with makes it easier," advised Teyla as she followed behind him. "While you wear this suit you will be stronger than a Wraith or a Reaper."

Ronon turned and gave her a look that said quite clearly 'I'm already stronger than a Wraith or a Reaper'.

"It will make you slightly stronger than you are now and provide you with better protection," responded Teyla.

Ronon grunted.

"Besides I thought you liked being able to use the cloaking device built into the suits," said Teyla.

"I do," admitted Ronon. Combined with his and Teyla's natural stealth the two of them were like ghosts when using the cloaking devices.

"Then you should be grateful for the suits protection," pointed out Teyla. "Without the radiation being emitted by the device you would be plagued by worms that would try to burrow their way into your body and mutate you into a hideous creature every time you use it."

"You really need to stop reading those mission reports," said Ronon.

"Perhaps you should start," Teyla shot back.

The two shared a grin and continued to their transport in silence, moving stealthily like invisible predators. Their transport was a transport shuttle that had undergone some major modifications to make it more appropriate for their use. Normally a ship that big would be way more than what would be needed for just the two of them but Ronon and Teyla weren't the only members of this little group.

SPECial Tactics and Reconaisance Element, otherwise known as SPECTRE, was officially composed of six members however only five were present on this particular reconnaisance mission. As the two founding members of the group entered the cloaked transport and the doors sealed behind them they deactivated their cloaks.

Eir, in her combat form and with the green crystal of the cloaking device glittering on her arm, approached them and gave them an appraising look. And since the Valkyrie happened to be a robot her appraising look happened to include a full body sensor scan.

"So you two didn't encounter any problems then," she noted. "And your suits are holding up well against the radiation from the cloaks."

A low chuckle arose that was distinctly Wraith.

"It seems you make good lab rats," said Todd with mirth from where he was working at a console set in the wall.

Next to him stood a very large former Wraith drone named Jason who smirked at the joke.

Neither Ronon nor Teyla said anything. They could see that the humour had never entered Todd eyes and that they had remained as hard and cold as they had ever since he first found out about his sister. The feeling was being shared amongst the other Wraith and they could see the coldness in Jason's eyes as well. It seemed that until they rescued Eurielle they would be looking at a lot of bad jokes and it was a toss up as to whether this was better than him being broody the whole time.

The not present sixth member of the group was Sovaer who was out of commission, possibly even permanently, since he was lying comatose in a hospital bed back in the Vanir city. Many wondered how a group that would normally feature two Wraith, an Athosian, a Satedan, a valkyrie and an Averian cyborg came together. The answer to that came from the quality that each of the group members possessed. Simply put they were all arse kickers to the point that they were likened to The Expendables. Since they were hard pressed to find opponents who could match them Ronon, Teyla and Sovaer could often be found in the gym sparring against each other whenever they all happened to be in the same place over the past two years. The three quickly became legends as the three people you did not want to take on in combat, up close or at a distance.

As relations with the Wraith improved and friendships grew Todd joined the three in the sparing ring, the Wraiths many years of experience allowing him to fight against them on a somewhat even level. Todd brought to the group a level of technical expertise as well as increasing their overall fighting strength. With him added to the group that brought them up to four people and expanded them beyond reconnaisance missions.

As part of their alliance though the four were regularly apart of joint training sessions since the newly emancipated Wraith drones lacked the training necessary to make them effective in close quarters combat. One of those drones was a big guy, a very big guy as it happened, even for a Wraith drone and he was quiet too. But the most notable thing about him was that no matter how many times one of the four would knock him to the mat he would always get up and come back for more. No matter how hard he got hit he would shrug it off and keep on fighting and he was quiet all the time. Drones weren't normally known for their conversation before the removal of the inhibitor and he was certainly no fool but he took it to a whole new level. It was actually slightly frightening. In typical Sheppard style John had been quick to come up with a name for the Wraith and called him Jason after a certain famous horror character that kept getting back up as well. So that brought the group up to five members with Jason filling a heavy support role.

The sixth member was Eir, a rather recent addition, and she filled a role that was going to be needed sooner or later as the group was called on for missions of increased danger. She was the team medic.

Over the past two years the team participated in numerous joint operations but never in anything serious. At the moment the team was still in the experimental phase and worse still they were short one of the original three. As an ace team though SPECTRE was given some of the best equipment available, including the newest models as they were built and this gave them a large amount of resources at their disposal. The Mark II suits with built in cloaking devices that each member was equipped with, except for Eir, was just the start. The transport shuttle had been upgraded with the best technology available which included stronger shields, faster engines, a more powerful generator and additional weaponry which came in the form of a plasma bomb emitter on the ships underbelly. The inside has also been revamped with scanning equipment, an armoury a machine shop which included a matter synthesiser and a fully stocked medical bay. Rumour amongst the uninitiated was that the ship even had a secret compartment that housed a fully operational Titan for Eir to use when she remembered she hadn't taken the Hippocratic Oath.

Aside from the fully loaded ship each member was also equipped with their own specialised weaponry. Ronon, Eir and Todd kept their usual assortment of weapons, although Todd did now have a few new gadgets to better facilitate his role as the team tech. Teyla now had a modified Jaffa plasma blaster that was powered by a power crystal taken from an Ori staff weapon and a pair of trinium based pointed banto rods with a naquadah edging designed to make them plasma rods. Jason carried a Wraith energy cannon as a secondary weapon while his primary a larger version of the spear rifle that fired bigger rounds and had a plasma blade like a meat cleaver although the overall appearance of the weapon was more like a halberd.

Sovaer was expected to keep his personal assortment of weapons but since he was still comatose no one knew for sure what they would be. While he would also be given the Mark II armour it was questionable as to whether he would actually benefit from the strength boost given his powerful artificial musculature. None of the team would accept the idea that Sovaer was gone. As long as he was still alive there was a chance that he would wake up and that meant he wasn't gone yet.

"We've been here for days already," complained Ronon. "Tell me you have something by now."

"I've been scanning the facility intensively searching for pure Wraith life signs," said Todd, not turning his head.

"What did you find?" asked Teyla as she pulled off her helmet.

"That there are a lot of reapers present," said Todd.

"That's it?" grunted Ronon.

"Reaper life signs are too close to Wraith life signs to distinguish between the two without in depths scans," Eir answered for him.

"And you can't do that without alerting them to our presence here," surmised Teyla.

"No we can't," said Todd. "That is why you two go out there keeping an eye on that ship to make sure no one takes her off it. Why aren't you still out there anyway?"

"We have planted the last of the monitoring devices around the ship," said Teyla. "You should be able to bring them online now."

Todd grunted.

"Can't they just use one of those ring things to get her off that ship?" pointed out Ronon. "It would be easier."

"No," said Todd. "They had to shut down all the ships systems to counteract the effects of the black virus otherwise there is a chance it might blow up. Sovaer knew what he was doing to cripple that thing for some time to come."

"It's a miracle that thing even survived the battle," said Eir.

"A miracle I am grateful for," said Todd.

"Do we have a plan for rescuing your sister?" asked Teyla.

"Go in cloaked, grab her and kill anything that gets in our way," said Jason in his deep gruff voice.

Ronon grinned. It was his kind of plan. Unfortunately his experience as a Specialist told it was a no.

"I like it big guy," he admitted. "But there are too many of them for us to guarantee the prisoners safety."

If it were a simple issue of slaughtering the enemy the Satedan would be all for tearing into the enemy and odds are they would take down a very large number of them before they went down but this wasn't that situation. Not only would they have to sneak into the ship, which admittedly wouldn't be that difficult using the cloaks, they would then have to search the ship for her and then get her out safely. Given the value she would pose to Zarin just unplugging her from the machines would probably set off any number of alarms throughout the ship and plunge them into a fire fight against every reaper on the ship and probably the base.

"My sister's safety is of the upmost priority," Todd stated adamantly. "Nothing else matters in this case."

"Yes sir," said Jason.

Ronon, Teyla and Eir shared a look. This was similar to something they had seen before in Echidna when Todd had been kidnapped, a fierce determination to achieve ones goal no matter the cost and to cut through whatever stood in the way of achieving that goal.

"In which case then I wouldn't recommend we mount an extraction mission of your sister," said Eir.

Todd did actually turn his head at that point and he was glaring daggers at the valkyrie who seemed completely unaffected by the fact that she should be nothing more than a blast shadow on the wall. Even Jason looked slightly pissed at her suggestion.

"What did you say?" asked Todd in a voice so low it was a growl.

"I said we can't try and get her off the flagship," she repeated.

Todd slowly rose from his seat.

"That is my, our, whole purpose for being here," he said as he stalked towards her. "If we cannot rescue her then what is the point of us being here."

Eir raised her hands in surrender.

"I'm not saying we don't try to rescue her," she said calmly. "I'm saying that we can't get her out of there."

"Todd," said Teyla, taking a step forwards to hold back the Wraith if necessary. "Let her speak."

Todd growled before taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Explain."

"I've been reviewing the reports we received from Jakose along with the historical records," she explained. "They indicate that they not only have her hooked up to numerous pieces of different equipment which have an unknown purpose but are injecting her with a collection of drugs. Now if I had to guess they have her under near constant sedatives designed to weaken her higher brain functions and make her extremely suggestible which is how they keep her under control."

"What does that have to do with extracting her?" asked Ronon.

Eir sighed.

"If I'm right then the drugs will probably be quite powerful," she explained. "The females of your species have an incredibly high natural resistance to outside influences and while that gives them an advantage it does come at a price. However most likely they would have to have her on immune suppressors. That means that we can't just unplug and expose her to environmental pollutants or we could end up killing her. Not to mention the possible side effects of just taking her off the drugs they have her on when we don't know what they are."

"So what are you suggesting?" asked Todd. "We have to take the whole ship?"

"That was the original plan until we found that it was landing here," said Teyla.

"If we are to safely get her out of the containment they have her in then it would be better if we had the time to analyse all the variables first," said Eir. "I wouldn't want to try anything by myself at this point."

Todd nodded slowly, appreciative of the fact that she was concerned with his sister's safety.

"Okay, so what is the plan to take the entire ship?" asked Ronon.

"Not alone," said Todd. "In order to succeed we would need to cripple the ship to prevent it from taking off, assuming they can repair it in time, and then capture the outpost. The alternative is for us to capture the ship and fly it out of here which isn't an option given the condition it's in and the number of forces in position."

"We would have to take out all the defending forces and if we are going to do that we may as well take the outpost as well," summarised Ronon.

"Precisely," said Todd. "The one advantage we have is that they can't rig the ship to overload because everything is offline until they can repair the damage, at least it should be."

"Should be?" asked Teyla.

"I don't know what systems they have cleansed of the virus at the moment," explained Todd. "So there is always the risk that they could have access to a self destruct mechanism."

"What can we do about that?" asked Ronon.

"We need to isolate key areas of the ship to prevent them from initiating an overload in the power systems," said Todd. "I would recommend engineering and the room where my sister is being held."

"What about the bridge?" asked Teyla. "Isn't that important as well?"

"Not in this case," said Todd. "If we move quickly the ships computers should still be crippled which means that the bridge will effectively be useless."

"How do you want to do this?" asked Ronon.

Todd sighed.

"As we saw earlier they have a sizeable fleet in orbit of this world which means we will need to neutralise them."

"We have allies that can handle that," said Teyla. "What is our role going to be?"

Todd nodded.

"We'll split into two teams, each with a specific task," explained Todd. "Yourself and Eir will defend the room my sister resides in while I, Ronon and Jason take over engineering. Your job will be to prevent anyone from removing her from the ship and keeping her stable while we will sabotage the generators to prevent an overload."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Teyla.

Todd sank back into his chair.

"With those plasma rods of yours you are the best choice for close quarters combat," explained Todd. "I need Eir to keep Eurielle stable while you keep her safe. Oh and unless the rest of you know how to disable a power generator you have never seen before without causing it to violently explode then I have to be the one in engineering and I will need help to defend it while I work. I wish Sovaer were here."

"We all do," said Teyla.

Jason patted his superior on the shoulder causing Todd to grin.

"Time to make that call," he said.

The others turned and readied their respective weapons and assorted gear for the mission that was to come while Todd powered up the ships subspace communication array.

When they had arrived on the planet several days ago they had negotiated their way through a myriad group of ships and defensive emplacements in orbit, all of which had been operating in stealth mode which meant they had been forced to navigate past them visually before landing on the planet. They had spent the next few days scouting out the outpost and then planting monitoring devices after the flagship had landed so that they would know if Eurielle was moved. With that the experimental team SPECTRE had completed its first official reconnaisance mission and soon would be plunged into their first combat exercise.

Across the galaxy plans were being made and put into motion for the seizure of the flagship.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	48. Base Capture

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

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**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: The problem with making Zarins blood boil is that he will want revenge and since he is a geonocidal maniac it won't be fun.**

**BIG Z1776: You won't have to wait long.**

**Shadows of Realm: No he will not.**

**Cdoctor: We shall see.**

**Oddliver: They have designed their own versions of body armour but not the mark two versions are quite new technology so maybe Todd will create his own version eventually.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**stormwolf3710: Its not so much taking the relatively abandoned ship as it is holding it against the tide of enemy troops that will flood from the base.**

**Naginator: Here is more. Enjoy.**

**Andriabow: Here are the opening moves. Enjoy.**

**Chronus1326: We never really got to see much of what the Genii had in terms of technology and as a culture, however it is something i was planning on delving into a little in a few chapters time. The Genii have their merits, it's just that space travel isn't one of them.**

* * *

**Kolumnar**

In a stable orbit over the green Earth like world of Kolumnar sat the _Weir_, the flagship of the Pegasus based fleet. It was a fleet that had been constantly fluctuating in size and composition ever since the very idea of a fleet for another galaxy had even been envisioned and yet now it was a reality. What had started out as just a single battlecruiser named _Daedalus_ had grown into what most would call a true fleet of ships being composed of various classes which were both smaller and larger than the aforementioned battlecruiser. Destroyers, battlecruisers, battle carriers and even a hospital ship now made up the forces what would be stationed in the Pegasus galaxy for the foreseeable future. Of course the hospital ship _Nightingale_ was the most recent arrival to the galaxy having only been present for a few hours now having relieved the Weir at the black hole and deployed the supergate blocks into position. Now that had been a truly spectacular sight to behold, seeing the individual blocks fly out of the hanger bay under their own power. Watching them come together to form a gigantic ring and then locking together in an unbreakable chain before the first test of the supergate. The whole process had taken mere minutes and they had even had the chance to watch the test. The entire ring had shook as it crackled with raw energy being channelled from the extractor placed by the event horizon of the black hole, so close to being pulled in that you would never know it was even there. As the energy enveloped the entire ring the exotic energies were channelled inwards meeting in the centre of open space before exploding outwards and then falling back into the stable form of a wormhole event horizon.

Over the speakers they heard the first tentative message being transmitted through the open wormhole.

"Milky Way this is Pegasus, do you read us?"

"Pegasus this is Milky Way, we read you loud and clear. Welcome to the intergalactic gate network."

A smattering of applause followed the confirmation that the supergate was fully operational.

Following that the _Weir_ had set a course for Kolumnar and her next call of duty, delivering a consignment of three ZPM's for _Borealis_. Sheppard could remember a time when his priority was finding a ZPM for them to use and now he was going to be handing over three full ones as a chore. He could remember a conversation he had not too long ago with some bright spark that had been looking into the list of ZPM's they had encountered over the years in one galaxy or another. He hadn't believed it until he had been shown the actual list but they had encounters of some form or another with at least twenty four ZPM's that had been in their possession or someone else's and not counting the significant number they had blown up along with the Asuran homeworld. Thirteen of these were now in their possession and only four of which were completely depleted, with the other nine having been recharged. One of these recharged ones had come from the kid's planet after the expedition had replaced the greatly diminished ZPM with a sealed naquadah generator to power their EM field generator and was being given to _Borealis_. Admittedly it could have been ten total if they could only convince the people of Dagan to allow them use of the one in their possession but for the time being nine was plenty since it allowed them to give one each to the Antarctic Outpost control chair and the Milky Way and Pegasus flagships as well as three for both _Atlantis_ and _Borealis_.

If they ever felt it necessary they could actually find wherever the reformed Quindosim had hidden the ZPM by simply scanning for its energy signature from orbit and then taking it. As it stood though they sorely objected to doing this on moral grounds and because of the repercussions it would have on their reputation. Even after Dagan had been admitted to the Coalition of Worlds and they officially became allies they still refused to part with the ZPM and making it vanish into thin air would potentially turn the entire Coalition against them. The last thing they wanted in the middle of a galactic war was to turn the majority of the galaxies population against them since it would prevent them from helping those worlds that would eventually come under attack from the Zarasians, or worse still ally with them. It was ironic really that the sole reason for appeasing the Coalition was so that they could help the member worlds in the long run when during their first encounter they had been threatened with being annexed. Apparently the ruling council had believed that without the trade with member worlds the expedition would suffer, apparently not having been made aware of just what they were and that trade was a courtesy and not a requirement. That fact had been made abundantly clear with the latest displays of their technological prowess, like being able to synthesise whatever they required out of thin air in nothing more apparent than a flash of light.

Below on the planets surface the ZPM's were being put into place and power was beginning to flow throughout _Borealis_ towards a system that hadn't been brought online for four years, the stardrive. With a deep rumble that shook the surrounding landscape the stardrive came online and began to power up causing the vibrations to increase in strength and frequency. The powerful vibrations served a purpose though as the hardened earth around the base loosened and began to crumble as the base ship slowly worked its way free of the grounds formally firm grip. When the stardrive was finally powered up completely it released its pent up energy and the base ship slowly began to rise from the planets surface shrugging off the pull of gravity. With the base of _Borealis_ now completely clear of the surface the secondary shield came online and she continued to rise even higher into the night sky. With the shields as of yet untested it was felt that the secondary capacitor based shield would be more appropriate in case of an unexpected main power loss. Not that this was likely to happen or even an issue since the base ship would only be ascending slowly and was air tight in any case. Slowly but surely _Borealis_ rose through the atmosphere to meet the cold grip of open space and as she settled comfortably into the icy depths Kolumnar gained a new star. A star that shone briefly but brightly enough to be clearly by all those who ventured out to watch her departure as a hyperspace window winked open and the base ship was whisked away to parts unknown.

But the moment of celebration at the flight of this mighty vessel was dampened by the tense nature of the incoming subspace transmission from SPECTRE.

"It's been a week Todd," said Sheppard as the Wraiths face appeared on the screen. "Please tell me you have something."

"Our initial assumptions were correct Sheppard," said Todd neutrally. "There is indeed a Zarasian outpost located here."

"And the flagship?" asked Sheppard.

"Out of action, confined to a dry dock and undergoing repairs," replied Todd.

"Nice to know," said Sheppard before his expression softened. "Have you managed to find your sister?"

"We know that she is confined in the flagship at the moment and unable to be moved," explained Todd. "However we have a plan for rescuing her."

Sheppard studied the expression on Todd's face. Determined and holding back a lot of anger he concluded. Not an expression he wasn't familiar with having seen it before on Echidna when Todd had been kidnapped and he knew to tread lightly around the Wraith wearing it.

"Todd you know we're fully willing to commit to rescuing your sister and giving Zarin a kick in the nuts as a bonus, right?"

Todd smiled, grateful for the commitment. The Wraiths eyes actually lost some of the anger they had possessed ever since he had first found out about Eurielle's capture.

"I do now Sheppard."

"Good," he replied. "Now I want you to explain your plan and then we'll make any changes I feel are necessary given the current situation and what I feel is necessary to ensure its success."

Todd nodded.

"I understand," he said before outlining what SPECTRE had learned about the outpost.

"I believe that our best chance of success will be to capture the outpost in its entirety which will allow us to capture the flagship at the same time," concluded Todd.

"I presume you are going to have a role in this?"

"You would presume correctly," Todd confirmed. "While you and the rest of the allied forces are conducting a ground and space battle I intend to deal with the issue of them moving Eurielle. We will split into two teams, one will secure the room where she is being held while the other neutralises the ships reactors to prevent them from initiating a self destruct option."

"So you're leaving the ground and space battle entirely up to us to plan?" asked Sheppard.

"Yes," stated Todd.

Sheppard sighed.

"You said the outpost was protected by a stealth field that disrupts sensors right?"

"Yes it completely hides the outpost from detection from our weaker sensors," said Todd. "However it will also prevent you from establishing a transporter lock."

"Which means we need to take it out before we can deploy troops inside the facility," surmised Sheppard. "Unless of course we deploy our troops outside of the field's effective radius."

"Alternatively we could destroy the emitters and allow for the instant transport of troops," said Todd.

"How many emitters are there?"

"Eight laid out in an octagonal pattern. I would suggest we destroy them simultaneously at the beginning of the engagement."

"Alright I'll bite," said Sheppard, sensing a catch. "There is a reason you want us to take that option, what is it?"

"From our reconnaisance we have the emitters have an alternate purpose," explained Todd, looking like he was hiding something. "The first is to project the stealth field to prevent detection…however the second purpose is to generate a powerful shield that will encompass the entire outpost when active."

"And we need to destroy those emitters while the shield is down because otherwise we have to blast our way through it which means potentially damaging the whole facility and the flagship holding your sister," summarised Sheppard.

"I would be very grateful if that weren't to happen," Todd stated firmly.

"If we can't get a targeting lock though hitting the targets might prove difficult," pointed out Sheppard. "Even with the co-ordinates before hand it's a risk."

"The tower bases are quite large, making then vulnerable to attack and they are situated on the outskirts of the outpost," explained Todd. "A single round from one of your ion cannons in roughly the right area should be able to sufficiently damage them enough to trigger a structural failure."

"And the other thing you haven't told me?" accused Sheppard. "Don't deny it Todd, after all these years I can tell when you are hiding something from me."

"There is something else you should know," said Todd. "The reason the tower bases are so large is because they were designed to allow for the towers to be relocated."

"And why would the towers need to be relocated?" asked Sheppard pointedly.

"Because…this outpost is being expanded and even as we speak new buildings are taking shape," explained Todd.

"And I'm guessing it's already pretty big and has a large number of troops stationed there, right?"

"I'm afraid so," admitted Todd who, to his credit, did look slightly guilty at having hidden that fact.

"Any idea of how many we're talking about?"

Todd and Sheppard shared a look.

"Many," they said simultaneously.

Sheppard sighed.

"Alright we're going to skip the rest of the verbal report on this one I think," said Sheppard. "I want you to transmit us a log of all your sensor recordings for the outpost and anything else you have found out about the outpost."

"I'm transmitting them to you now," said Todd.

"ISIS," said Sheppard.

"Yes Commander," said ISIS, appearing beside him.

"Confirm receipt of the sensor logs and reconnaissance reports," ordered Sheppard.

"I can confirm," said ISIS.

"Todd," said Sheppard, turning back to the Wraith. "Call me back in an hour and I'll tell you our plan. In the mean time I want you and the others to load up and get ready to move out."

"I understand," said Todd before severing the transmission at his end.

"ISIS get Rodney here and tell him I don't care if he is in bed with Keller I need to speak to him now," ordered Sheppard. "And get Thor, Jakose and Echidna on the line, we'll need all the help we can get on this one."

"Yes Commander," said ISIS, obediently carrying out his instructions.

* * *

"You do realise that this is nuts right?" asked Rodney.

"Will it work though?" asked Sheppard.

"In theory yes it could work," said Rodney. "But I really must stress the fact that this is nuts."

"Yes I know it's a little nuts but it's not much different than towing an entire space station through hyperspace while under fire is it?" argued Sheppard.

"No but next to this plan I would gladly try that one all over again," said Rodney.

"Did I interrupt you in the middle of something Rodney?"

"Don't even go there Sheppard," Rodney warned him.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Sheppard with a smirk as his friend walked away.

* * *

"This plan carries great risk Colonel Sheppard," stated Thor.

"I know but it's the best option right now given what we know about our enemy," said Sheppard. "At least this way we have a say in how things go down."

"I see your point," said Thor. "How many ships will you be committing to the battle?"

"All of the Pegasus class and Night Fury's," replied Sheppard. "The battlecruiser fleet is either under repair or preparing to be deployed to safeguard other worlds and I would rather have our most powerful ships running in this one to keep our casualties low."

"I see," said Thor. "Then I will commit the entirety of my forces to aid you in this battle. If we are successful then the rewards will definitely be worth it."

"Thanks Thor I appreciate it."

"I understand that Borealis is finally underway will you be committing it to the battle or keeping it nearby?"

Sheppard shook his head.

"No. Right now I want to keep that card hidden until we really need to use it. As it stands the longer the Zarasians don't know about it the more of an advantage it provides us with."

"A wise move," said Thor approvingly. "I will prepare my forces for battle."

* * *

"I can commit the _Arima_ and her sentinels to this battle," said Echidna. "The rest of my forces are needed to protect my worlds from assault."

"I understand," said Sheppard. "I figured you would want in on this battle though."

"I'll prepare my ships," said Echidna bluntly before terminating the transmission.

Sheppard hadn't really expected much more than that from the Wraith Matriarch.

* * *

"I can only offer the _Kalon Aror_ to join Colonel Sheppard," said Jakose. "She is the only ship close enough to assist you without uncovering our defences."

"I understand," said Sheppard. "With the _Aror_ in addition to our other forces I believe we have enough to overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers and firepower."

"That is good to hear," said Jakose. "I will instruct Admiral Xander to prepare for the coming battle."

* * *

"You are truly certain that this is the best plan Sheppard?" asked Todd sceptically.

"Its risky I know but given all the information we have about our enemy I think it's our best bet for getting a solid victory," said Sheppard.

"Very well then," said Todd. "I will ensure that we are ready for your arrival but for the record I think that this is the craziest plan you have come up with."

"That's what Rodney said, but I'm pretty sure we can make it work."

* * *

**Zarasian Outpost**

Surrounding the outpost sat a small fleet of ships that was ironically made up entirely of the surviving forces from Zarins escort fleet. That been said there were hardly more than a few dozen ships present and all were running in silent mode to prevent being detected. This was the beginning of the defences that protected the hidden base below as floating around them in a thick field of metal were weapon satellites numbering in the small thousands. Each satellite was small, packing only a single energy cannon and a light shield but that was intentional as coupled with the low power mode they were operating in they were very hard to detect. The satellites may have lacked the same power as the weapon on a Zarasian warship but it was by no means a weak attack and in the large numbers present could prove to be devastating. Negotiating past this metaphorical minefield had proven to be incredibly difficult for the SPECTRE team when they first arrived and it was going to prove to be an even bigger headache for the attacking fleet when they finally arrived.

Down below on the planets surface the outpost remained completely hidden from view, its stealth field powered and active. Unseen and yet still present the Zarasian flagship the _Doom Bringer_ was still undergoing repairs to its computer core programs in the large dry dock below, being supported purely by the anti gravity field being generated by the harness fitted around the ship. It was suspected that the ship would remain in place for some time to come now as the repairs to the computer core continued. What the Zarasians didn't know though was that there were others who had different plans for the flagships future.

The headache would start very shortly as a single massive hyperspace window opened in front of the defensive screen and the allied fleet emerged from hyperspace. The fleet was an impressive one and certainly a powerful one. Composed of 24 Pegasus class, 96 Night Fury's, 20 O'Neill's, the _Arima_, 30 sentinels and the _Aror_ this single fleet consisted of at least one ship from every allied race making this the largest allied operation to date.

In response to this obvious threat the Zarasian warships and defence satellites quickly raised shields and powered weapons while sending a frantic warning to the outpost below. The allied ships wasted no time either and immediately started to engage the defending forces with the various weapons at their disposal. The beam weapons of the Asgard, Averian and Tau'ri ships found their marks easily enough but the plasma and ion cannon rounds could be dodged and so they were, many of them missing the mark only to hit the planet below. But what the Zarasians didn't realise was that not all of these shots were misses, eight of them were precision shots fired at locations that had been marked by unseen foes.

The stealth field of the outpost was still active to protect the base, power being steadily transferred to the shield so that it could be raised without exposing the outpost to attack. Before this could happen though eight ion cannon rounds passed through the stealth field and struck the towers or the areas around the towers. Three of them were struck dead on and were practically vaporised on impact while the rest suddenly found they lacked support from below as their bases shattered and they gave in to the pull of gravity. With a crack the supports shattered under the strain of supporting the heavy pulsing buds that were the emitters and fell to the ground in pile of twisted metal before exploding as the pent up energy was violently released. The stealth field that had been making the outpost blend in perfectly with the surrounding landscape flickered and died in a second of the weapons impact as the power feed failed. Suddenly an entire military outpost composed of dozens of complete buildings with even more under construction appeared out of thin air, plumes of smoke rising from the outskirts from the wreckage of the destroyed emitter towers.

In bright pillars of light large bulky objects materialised throughout the outpost marking the arrival of the allied ground forces on the scene. As the lights vanished they revealed large metallic objects of a design never before encountered by the Zarasians, Titans and M1 Abram's. Immediately the armoured behemoths opened fire with every weapon in their arsenal sowing carnage and destruction amongst the unprepared forces of the Zarasians. No ground troops were present but they proved to be superfluous in this case since the attackers seemed to only be interested in reeking havoc wherever they went. Slowly the Zarasian forces got organised and began to mount a proper resistance to the attackers, pulling out heavier plasma weapons that taxed the shields of the Abram's and Titans. As this became more and more frequent pulling back to allow others to pick up the slack was no longer an option beacons were activated and transport beams whisked them away before sending them a little while later once shields had recharged.

The entire battlefield, land and space, was a mess of intense combat. In space plasma bolts flew on mass while plasma, ions and general energy was fired in return either in bolts or in beams. Wings of 302's and hornets engaged in heated dog fights against swarms of satellites that tested the reaction times of the organic brains of both pilots and living fighters. Fleets of ships bombarded each other with weapons fire but the outcome was already decided. The Zarasians didn't stand a chance against the sheer weight of numbers being stacked against them, especially not when they were up against a superior foe. In terms of a purely fleet battle it was an absolute slaughter, but this wasn't a purely fleet battle. The satellites were where the Zarasians were proving to be tough to handle. Their numbers and their manoeuvrability were allowing them to avoid some of the weapons fire while at the same time inflicting their toll on the allied forces as they pounded them with a rain of plasma bolts. On the ground the fighting was even more intense as the smoke and fires began to choke the luckless soles exposed to the open air. Slowly the allied armour stole more and more ground out from under the Zarasians as they relentlessly pushed forwards, cutting down the enemy where they stood. There were dozens of armour pieces in play and they were spreading throughout the confines of the outpost like a plague, ravaging whatever stood in their path.

On the bridge of the Kalen Aror a crewman reported a message coming through over subspace from the surface.

"Put it on speakers," Admiral Xander ordered.

A deafening screeching noise filled the bridge dazing the crew.

"Off! Off!" yelled Xander, struggling to be heard over the noise. "I said turn it off!"

Removing a hand that was clamped over his ear the crewman slammed his hand on the console, shutting off the noise.

As he redirected his attention to the battle Xander silently cursed Zarin.

What wasn't obvious, except from an aerial view, was what the final objective was. With the slaughter being reeked on the Zarasian forces one might guess the end goal was simple annihilation of any enemy forces present. Not that there was much going on to dissuade this possibility, anything the allies encountered they seemingly cut down without mercy. Reapers were falling in droves on the ground and the space above the outpost was rife with explosions as the allies turned their full attention to the satellites now that the last of the enemy warships had been shattered. However to truly understand what the end goal was one would have to ignore the space battle and focus their attention entirely on the ground battle from an aerial perspective from the very beginning of the battle. One would have to watch how the battle unfolded right from the beginning. How a sizeable number of the armoured units had been deployed around the main shipyard where the _Doom Bringer_ was sitting and how a number of the units that had been beamed back had been re-deployed directly next to or in the hot spots around the same shipyard. Now this might not seem like something of consequence since it just seemed like the re-deployments were to relieve their forces but it was very important and became even more so with the next move of the allies.

Suddenly every single armoured unit stopped firing and was quickly beamed away but the question no one had thought to ask so far was where to? Every ship in orbit was apparently engaged in combat and as such their shields were raised which should prevent transport of any kind. So again the question became what was beaming these armoured units around with impunity? The answer to that became very quickly apparent when the bewildered forces on the ground heard a rumble from above. Moments later a single Pegasus class vessel that had definitely not arrived at the same time as the others de-cloaked and dropped straight into the atmosphere. Looking up the Zarasians saw what looked like a meteor hurtling towards them at break neck speeds, fast enough to create a fireball around it from the steep entry vector into the atmosphere. Defying the gravitational pull the ship came to a sudden stop right above the _Doom Bringer_ before enveloping the ship in a tractor beam and slowly pulling her upwards and out of the dock she rested in.

Suddenly the plan became all too clear for all to see, especially the end objective. The allies had set their sights on the Zarasian flagship and they intended to take it from them while they stood by and watched. It was the equivalent of a slap in the face to Zarin. No worse, it was practically a kick in the nuts. Even more so since Eurielle was sitting in the containment chamber aboard, a fact the allies were no doubt aware of or at least suspected. Zarin was seething when he received that particular report. He decided that enough was enough and it would not be as easy as they thought it would. He had already evacuated to a secure bunker which housed the stargate and as he prepared to step through the active wormhole he triggered the self destructs throughout the entire outpost.

With the command given every reactor across the outpost, including the ones on the _Doom Bringer_, received the command to come online if offline and initiate a catastrophic overload. It started slowly, as a series of small explosions as the smaller reactors began to detonate which escalated into a cacophony of explosions as reactors of all shapes and sizes blew in a spectacular display of uncontrolled explosive force. Then the naquadah in the stargate got caught in the blast and the explosion was amplified even further. Within moments of the command being given the entire outpost was engulfed in what had culminated into a single fireball so massive it consumed even the Pegasus class vessel towing the flagship. By the time the explosive blast died down and sensors cleared the only thing left in space was the allied fleet, what had once been an outpost was now a crater and across the stars Zarin smirked at the allies failure to capture his flagship and the losses they would have suffered as a result.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	49. The Heist

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Zarin would never hesitate to make what he considers to be a small sacrifice if it means salvaging a small victory from the jaws of certain defeat.**

**BIG Z1776: The supergate is going to be heavily defended and a very highly regarded secret. As for the rest, wait and see.**

**Shadows of Realm: Or dead since his last known position along with the rest of the SPECTRE's was on the surface near that outpost.**

**Cdoctor: Wait no longer.**

**Oddliver: We shall see.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: The most important things are never easily won or held on to.**

**stormwolf3710: Thank you.**

**vash1914: I was worried with how it would come off overall, glad you liked it.**

* * *

**Zarasian Outpost**

Well it had once been a Zarasian outpost, as the fire and smoke from the blast cleared away all that was left was a massive crater.

On the bridge the _Weir_ Colonel Sheppard leaned back in his chair.

"Pay attention ladies and gentlemen," he said casually. "This is the reason why we don't attempt a ground battle to take an insignificant outpost from a genocidal megalomaniac."

As the last of the smoke cleared it was apparent that floating above the remains of the outpost was a single Pegasus class vessel and a large Zarasian vessel. Both of them appeared to be completely untouched by the explosion and looking like they were in pristine condition. The Zarasian vessel was of course the _Doom Bringer_ and the Pegasus class vessel was none other than the _Weir_.

"Tractor beam lock on the Zarasian flagship is stable," said Rodney from his workstation. "ZPM levels are in the green and the shield is holding, no damage taken."

"I told you it work," said Sheppard smugly.

"I never said it wouldn't work," argued McKay. "I just said it was the craziest idea either of us has ever come up with."

"More crazy than using the eruption of a super volcano to knock us into hyperspace before the blast killed us?" asked Sheppard sceptically.

"That was on an ancient ship with highly advanced shields and only for a few seconds," protested McKay. "This was sitting here and taking a blast wave in the face while expanding our shields around a ship even bigger than ours."

"Still worked though," said Sheppard.

"Never again Sheppard," muttered McKay. "Never. Ever. Again."

"Speaking of ships bigger than this one how is the Zarasian flagship anyway?" asked Sheppard.

"The shields held so it's completely undamaged, well aside from the damage they were fixing," said McKay.

"Tell Todd job well done and we'll be with him shortly," said Sheppard.

* * *

**Zarasian Outpost – A little while earlier**

Todd and the rest of the SPECTRE's had been charged with an important mission crucial to the success of this attempt to capture the flagship. Without it they would never have been able to pull this off and more importantly the _Weir_ would have been as completely destroyed as the outpost below her.

The first part of their mission had been to paint the targets for the fleet to disable the stealth field and knock out the shields before they came online. To this end they had marked each of the emitter towers and sent the co-ordinates to the attacking fleet before moving on to complete their main objective.

Like ghosts the team of five moved through the outpost, slipping past reaper patrols and avoid sentries with ease thanks to a combination of their honed stealth and cloaking devices. Slowly but steadily they crept into the shipyard, carefully avoiding the paths of the maintenance workers, and then working their way into the _Doom Bringer_'s interior through one of the open maintenance hatches. Scanning for power readings they were able to locate the hatchery containing Eurielle easily enough and by simply heading towards the rear of the ship they were able to locate engineering.

Avoiding the reaper patrols hadn't been that difficult either since they were few in number given the status of the ship, but they had very sharp hearing which doesn't help when you are trying to sneak around quietly while in full battle armour. Nevertheless they continued further and further into the ships interior until eventually the two teams reached their separate locations.

Eir and Teyla were the first to arrive at their objective since it was the easiest to locate. When you only have to search for power signatures and the hatchery was the only thing drawing a significant amount of power, given that it had its own independent power supply. There were two guards standing either side of the door, not surprising given the valuable nature of the prisoner inside. However the two reapers failed to see the SPECTRE's approaching since they remained cloaked. They did however sense a strange unease about them as they stood there almost as though they could sense the presence of the threat that stood right in front of them.

To the casual observer this is what happened. The two reapers seemed ill at ease, as though a chill were going up their spines or an unknown draft were blowing over them. They clearly sensed some sort of disturbance, as though something was not right with the situation they were in. Their eyes swept across the corridor trying to locate the source of this unease but found nothing to calm their nerves. Then suddenly they froze stock still as a red trickle appeared down their throats, their eyes widened and their jaws clenched. Their entire bodies slackened, going limp like rag dolls and their eyes deadened. And yet they were suspended where they stood, unable to fall despite their suddenly weakened limbs. Inexplicably their heads jerked back, revealing a wide and bloody hole just above where their heads met their necks. With a full body twitch blood and brain fluid suddenly began to spurt from the open wound, the contents of their heads emptying, as their lifeless bodies succumbed to gravities pull and they fell in a heap to the floor.

Out of thin air an armoured figure appeared, a pointed silver rod glowing slightly from the light of burning plasma held in each gloved hand. The rods were clean, the plasma field having cauterised the wound and the incredible heat having vaporised the blood and other fluids in the skull on contact with the red trickle escaping as the field grew in intensity. Silently, Teyla had approached her foe while the cloaking field hid her from view and then skewered them both without resistance while standing no more than a foot from either one. Reapers, these two had not proven worthy of the name when their own actions were compared to what she had just done.

Still silent Teyla stepped aside as Eir uncloaked and moved forwards to the sealed doors. With no hesitation the valkyrie slid her clawed fingers into the seam of the door and tightened her grip, her strong hands leaving imprints on the hardened metal as she applied pressure. The metal creaked and twisted as she wrenched the doors open, fighting against the mechanism all the way, but eventually they were split wide apart and the way was clear. The two advanced into the room with Eir leading the way.

Eir stepped forward to the containment pod, noting the palm scanner panel on the wall that Jakose had told them about. It was no obstacle to the android bodied Asgard who simply placed her hand on the scanner. On her artificial skin was a chemical compound that reacted with the air but was neutralised by the residue left by Zarins own skin each time he touched the panel. Normally this wouldn't work on a regular panel as the marks would have been smudged by multiple prints, but they had had a hunch that Zarin, in his paranoia, would be the only one to have access to this prisoner. It was a long shot at best but they had been hoping to get lucky. If not there were alternatives, like simply breaking the seal, but a simple glance from the valkyries robotic eyes had determined a single print of the palm reader and so they went with the easiest and safest option.

With a gentle hiss of escaping gas the seal broke and the circular door slid open, revealing the Wraith prisoner inside. Eurielle's body was completely still, with her head lolled to one side and a strand of long black hair hanging along her front. Eir moved forwards and studied the poor creature before her, noting just how much she looked like her mother. Gently the valkyrie approached and brushed that errant strand of hair behind her back, her glowing palms coming up to gently cup the Wraiths cheeks while the healing devices in her hands began scanning for signs of physical damage. The damage to her body was practically insignificant compared to the toll on her system the numerous drugs she was being dosed with seemed to inflicting on her. Her internal organs were showing signs of shutting down, with only her incredible Wraith healing abilities allowing her to survive and heal away all that was being done to her. Her limbs showed signs of atrophy, clearly she had been unable to use her limbs for some time now. Turning her focus away from the poor creatures body Eir scanned her mind for signs of damage and almost jerked back in surprise. All along her cerebrum were neural implants of varying shapes and sizes and looking with her eyes she finally noticed the wires covered by her hair trailing out the back of her skull and into the wall. Eir couldn't help but wonder just what had been done to Eurielle for the sake of victory.

With the scan complete Eir set about slowly deactivating the various machines pumping drugs into her system, carefully lowering the dosage of all the drugs simultaneously in an attempt to maintain stability while making adjustments as the life sign readings changed. She left the ones connected to the brain alone for the time being. If all went according to plan then they should have plenty of time to analyse just what those implants were designed to do.

While Eir set to work Teyla settled into a fighting stance, ready for whatever might come through the open door.

In engineering Todd, Jason and Ronon were beginning to set to work themselves, around them lay the dead bodies of reapers and Zarasian military officers alike. The three of them had wasted no time cutting down the room's inhabitants where they stood and worked. Appearing like phantoms out of thin air the three had slaughtered them all with skill and precision and most importantly control. None of the room's consoles or equipments had been damaged, much to Todd's satisfaction.

Standing in front of one of several large orb like structures that dominated the room Todd studied the complicated device before him. It was certainly an impressive piece of equipment and very intricately built. Most naquadah reactors however are pretty similar in their design, designed to receive an electrical charge into the naquadah deposit at the core of the reactor which creates thermal energy and a small amount of radiation which is then converted into raw current. The difference in the design lies in the efficiency of the conversion process which is why different species reactors are much more powerful despite being similar in size. The trick to disabling a reactor is to disable the initial energy input, effectively removing the spark plugs as you from an engine.

The hard point was finding the actual spark plugs, which is why Todd was up to his neck in the bowels of the machine looking for the equivalent.

"Have you finished disarming that thing yet?" asked Ronon while he and Jason kept an eye out.

"It's a highly advanced naquadah generator," said Todd. "Not a bomb."

"Try saying that when they overload it and it blows up," said Ronon.

"Not likely," said Todd as he ripped out a piece of equipment out from the machine and tossed it to Ronon.

Ronon caught the wire ended cylinder with one hand.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's the power flow input regulator for the reactor," said Todd. "No initial power flow so no overload so no explosion."

"Nice," said Ronon. "So are we done here?"

"No, we still have to stop them from fixing the damage we've done," explained Todd.

"So we're stuck here," summarised Ronon.

"Until we receive reinforcements or every enemy on this ship is dead," said Todd.

"You know," said Ronon with a wry grin. "We could take care of that."

"No," said Todd sternly. "I need you two here to guard the reactor core until we have the ship in our hands."

When he noticed the disappointed look on Ronon's and Jason's faces he added, "When reinforcements arrive though…well that's different."

Ronon and Jason shared a grin.

"Now if you'll excuse me," said Todd getting to his feet. "I have to go disarm a few other generators."

"Stay in the room," said Ronon.

"You'll be the first to know if I leave," said Todd as he strode off to dismantle the other generators.

Ronon and Jason stayed where they were, their attention never having wavered from the door they were charged with guarding.

By the time that Todd had disarmed all the other generators in the room there were at least a dozen more corpses lying on the ground as they took down reaper patrols and errant crewman that wondered into the room.

There was a distant rumble and the whole ship was rocked by some unknown force. They were thankful for the magnetic clamps in their boots securing them to the deck plating, as main power had been completely disabled with minimal power coming from the suspension collar around the ship, otherwise they would have been tossed to the floor.

They may have managed to stay on their feet but the reapers weren't so lucky. They ended up bouncing off the bulkheads when the explosion from the outpost rocked the ship. Unfortunately reapers are made of sturdy stuff and it wasn't long before they were back to fighting off the approaching masses. They really weren't expecting there to have been so many present on a crippled vessel but apparently there were, presumably these were the forces that were normally stationed on the vessel and apparently hadn't left. There certainly hadn't been this many roaming the halls earlier so maybe they were all having lunch or whatever reapers did when they weren't needed. Unfortunately at the moment they had found a purpose namely killing the intruders, but the SPECTRE's weren't making it easy for them.

"Hey Todd," said Sheppard over the comm. "Just so you know Zarin blew up the outpost, so you owe me twenty."

"We're a little busy here Sheppard," said Ronon as he fired off another blast from the cover of a console.

"I can tell by the life sign readings we're getting," said Sheppard. "I'm preparing to beam reinforcements to you now. By the way how big is that room?"

"Big enough to fit a Titan in," said Todd. "Why?"

"Just checking," said Sheppard innocently and they could practically hear him smiling.

"He wouldn't," said Todd as he spotted the familiar light of Asgard transport beams.

As the bright light faded it revealed the ten foot tall form of a Titan.

"Of course he would," said Todd as the Titan set to work, mowing down reapers with its plasma repeaters.

"Teyla, how are things on your end?" asked Sheppard.

In the hatchery Teyla swung her plasma rod, clipping a reaper on the head and leaving him dazed and burned. Around her were three other reapers and they all sported numerous burns from where they had struck by the Athosians fierce blows. On the floor though there were a lot more than there were standing up.

"I believe I have the situation under control," she said as she parried the swing of a rifle and countered with a stab from below that caught the reaper on the chin and caused his head to snap back as he was impaled.

Teyla spun around and pulled her plasma rod out from the reapers skull to then drive it into the chest of another while her left hand pierced yet another reaper in its side. Her movements embodied the groups name, her agility and grace making her almost untouchable in close quarters combat. Try as they might the reapers just couldn't match her enhanced strength and superior skill in close quarters combat. Whenever she closed in on her opponent that reaper was assured to die and the three falling to the floor now were proof of that.

"Yeah I can see that," said Sheppard. "Three life signs just winked out on my screen, but you've got  
more incoming and we're reading more popping up. We're trying to beam them out but the areas they are in appear to have shielding of some kind."

"You just beamed a Titan into engineering and you're telling me that you can't beam out a few reapers," said Ronon in disbelief.

"John, please tell me he's joking," said Teyla.

"They needed backup," said Sheppard defensively. "Besides now that they're free they can go help you."

Ronon grinned.

"So does that mean we can cut loose?" he asked.

"I believe we have the situation under control here," said Todd. "You two can go and purge the rest of the ship."

"Good hunting," said Sheppard. "We'll get the ship in a stable orbit and beam troops into the outer areas to secure the ship. It'll take them a while to get to Teyla though so in the mean time you boys get to have some fun."

Ronon and Jason shared a grin before rising out from behind cover and letting loose a hail storm of energy blasts at the reapers that were already reeling from walking into the room and coming face to face with a Titan. The two SPECTRE's charged forwards just as the Titan stopped firing, ghosting past the reapers before they even knew what was happening. They were out the door in mere seconds and the reapers that turned to face them suddenly found themselves being shot in the back as the Titan resumed firing the moment the SPECTRE's were clear.

"We'll head to Teyla first," said Ronon as the pair ran through the corridors, cutting down reapers that appeared in their path. "Then when the others arrive we'll leave Eir behind and the three of us can take care of the excess."

Jason grunted in response as he unleashed another burst into two reapers that had appeared from a side passage.

While they were running to the hatchery the _Weir_ was slowly towing the flagship through the atmosphere and into space. All the while the shields were raised to further support the tractor beam and prevent any unexpected surprises from cropping up and ruining their heist plans. Admittedly this meant that they couldn't beam any additional troops on board from ships other than the _Weir_ but they already had a small army in the form of the SPECTRE's and a Titan onboard anyway.

Ronon and Jason eventually met up with the tempest clad soldiers from the _Weir_ but remained on point as they continued their advance on the hatchery. The Tau'ri soldiers just had to perform clean up and all they actually had to do was confirm that the trail of reaper bodies that they left in their wake were all dead, which they were every time.

As the two forced their way past reapers into the hatchery they found themselves looking at the backs of two stock still reapers. A second later and the two reapers keeled backwards, two gaping holes in their necks, revealing Teyla standing in front of them with her plasma rods thrust out in front of her. Seeing her team mates and the reinforcements piling into the room she straightened and lowered her weapons.

"I did say I have everything under control here," she said airily.

Jason and Todd took in the state of the room with its unmarked walls and a floor covered in dead reapers sporting various burns and stab wounds. Teyla on the other hand was completely unharmed to the point that even her armour hadn't been scratched, a testament to her skill as a close quarter's fighter. It was obvious how this battle had played out.

"I'll say," said Jason quietly.

Behind the display of carnage Eir was monitoring Eurielle's life signs and still lowering the dosage of the drugs being pumped into her system.

"I would rather not have a fire fight in the same room as my patient," she said, her attention never wavering from Eurielle. "So if you humans could set up a perimeter outside the room I would appreciate it."

The Tau'ri soldiers didn't even hesitate to position themselves so that the room and its occupants were outside the field of fire.

"You ready to take the fight to the enemy?" asked Ronon.

"So we're going reaper hunting then?" asked Teyla as she headed to the door.

"Just like when we used to go Wraith hunting," said Ronon. "No offense big guy."

"None taken," said Jason with a predatory grin. "It would have been fun to see you try to hunt me."

Ronon smirked. "Maybe after this we can find a nice empty forest and have a go with a couple of stunners."

"Sounds good," said Jason.

Teyla sighed. "Focus boys, we have reapers to kill."

Jason smirked. "Indeed."

"Then lets get to it," said Ronon.

And with that the three of them charged off into the bowels of the ship, intent on tracking down every last one of the reapers aboard.

* * *

**_Kalen Aror_**

After the annihilation of the planetary defence forces the _Aror_ sat in orbit along with the rest of the allied fleet. Like the rest of the fleet the hull of the ship was unmarked by signs of battle, her shields never having come even close to failing during the conflict to secure orbital control.

On the bridge however it was obvious to anyone that something was wrong. The lights should definitely not be flickering the way they were.

"Would someone please tell me what is wrong with the lights?" asked Admiral Xander. He wasn't really angry but the sporadic strobe lighting effect was beginning to get on his nerves and he was worried it might be the result of a more serious problem.

"It appears to be a fluctuation in the lighting section of the power grid sir," a crewman reported.

"I thought we came out of that battle without any damage," voiced Xander, when he knew for sure they had having called for damage reports and received none.

"We didn't sir," replied the bridge engineering officer. "The fault seems to have cropped up after the battle."

"So are you really telling me that the most advanced ship in the entire Averian fleet came out of battle without a scratch but apparently developed a fault from sitting in space?" Xander asked in utter disbelief.

"Apparently so sir," said the engineer.

"However I think I have the problem sorted," he continued as the lighting stabilised.

"Nicely done," said Xander, just before every console screen and illuminated button on the bridge started to flicker.

"Report," he ordered.

"The problem seems to have…transferred…spread…," the engineer stuttered as he tried to work out what had happened. "However it happened the problem is now in the command control sector of the power grid."

Suddenly the problem seemed to disappear as the lighting once again stabilised. Xander paused for a moment, waiting for something else to start flickering or some report of strange activity only for none to come.

"Well done," he said, but his congratulations fell on deaf ears as the engineer frowned.

"I didn't do anything sir. The problem just seemed to vanish."

Xander's brain switched into suspicious mode automatically. No problem that appears out of nowhere suddenly vanishes just as easily. There was more to this than what met the eye.

"I want a full system diagnostic immediately," he ordered. "Something is happening to my ship and I want to know what."

"Yes sir."

"Um sir," said the helm officer. "The computer is plotting a course."

"Clarify," Xander ordered. "What do you mean by the computer is plotting a course?"

"The computer is plotting a course and I didn't enter any instructions for it to do so," said the helm officer.

Xander frowned at the news. Navigation was controlled solely from that one console so that excluded the possibility of someone else plotting a course.

"Run a diagnostic," Xander ordered. "And shut down navigation."

"Sir," said the helm officer with an edge of panic to his voice. "I'm locked out of navigation and according to these readings the hyperdrive is coming online."

"Confirm that," Xander ordered.

"Confirmed sir," said the engineer with a similar note of panic. "And it's not just navigation we don't have access to any systems at all."

"What in the name of the ancestors is going on?" Xander demanded as the ship jumped into hyperspace, unable to believe what was happening.

"Our computer seems to be following some unknown directive," said the engineer.

"I do have some good news though," said the helm officer. "I can confirm that we are on course for the Vanir homeworld and that we will open an exit window upon arrival."

That was good news, no one wanted to imagine what would happen to the ship if it just travelled through hyperspace until the reactors ran dry.

"Find out why this is happening and fix it," Xander ordered.

He wasn't angry, he was worried. Worried for the safety of his crew and worried about what might happen when the ship arrived at the Vanir world.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	50. Meet our Friends

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Banter between Sheppard and McKay always promises to be entertaining. SPECTRE just had its first real beta test, now they can get down to the real hard core action now that the team dynamic is proven to work.**

**BIG Z1776: I thought you might. Jason is more like the Wraith equivalent of both Ronon and Teal'c.**

**Cdoctor: I have a plan for the Jaffa for the future, don't worry they will eventually be making an appearance. Though i won't say in what capacity just yet.**

**Oddliver: Or is it?**

**stormwolf3710: The moment i gave Teyla plasma rods i knew someone would make a lightsaber reference.**

**EPetrelli: You'll see.**

** : I try.**

**romanhellhound: You'll see.**

* * *

**Zarasian flagship**

Jason fired a burst from his spear rifle into the reaper directly in front of him, swiping the dying form out of his way with the butt of the rifle before swinging at yet another reaper with a powerful chop that sunk the cleaver like blade several inches into yet another reapers skull.

Beside him Teyla danced around four other reapers, batting them with her plasma rods as she flitted past them. The reapers could only attempt to dodge her precision strikes since blocking them would mean burns that would easily go through their armour and sear away the flesh. After each reaper had been sufficiently hampered by the injuries dealt she switched to needle prick attacks that turned the reapers into pin cushions before they finally collapsed from their injuries.

Ronon meanwhile was blasting away at the reapers that had the common sense to engage the SPECTRE's from a distance and was quickly proving that even that distance wasn't far enough away.

As the last reaper fell to the ground the three took stock of their situation. Out of habit Ronon plucked out the power cell from his particle magnum and replaced it with a fresh one from his belt while the old one was recharged by his armours power supply.

"Where are the next ones?" he asked.

"Nowhere," said Sheppard over the comm. "There are no next ones."

"That's it?" Ronon asked.

"That's it," confirmed Sheppard.

"Well that didn't take too long," said Teyla.

"Too easy," said Ronon with a cocky grin.

"You three killed well over a hundred reapers apiece over the course of this mission and you think it was easy," said Sheppard in disbelief. "Never mind that we've got bigger things to deal with. I need you back on board ASAP."

"What is wrong?" asked Teyla.

"The _Aror_ just jumped into hyperspace," said Sheppard. "No warning, no message, they just left. We're tracking them but they aren't responding to our hails which has some of us worried."

"I have an estimate for their destination based off their trajectory," said McKay, joining in on the conversation. "It looks like they're heading towards the Vanir homeworld. They aren't heading straight there but as far as I can tell it's the only thing in the area."

"If we are going to follow them we'll need to take our ship with us," said Todd. "It's still cloaked on the planets surface."

"It definitely survived the blast right?" asked McKay, who had personally had a hand in tricking it out.

"I moved it so that it would be well outside the blast radius before we began this operation," Todd assured him. "It is quite safe."

"Good to know," said Sheppard. "Now get it and let's get moving."

"What about Eurielle?" Todd asked with an edge to his voice.

"I would recommend we tow the ship with us," said Eir. "The Vanir city has the most advanced cybernetic related medical equipment and some of the best specialists in the galaxy. I would rather have that equipment on standby if we should need it when I attempt to disconnect her."

"Sounds like a plan," said Sheppard. "Now let's get to it people."

**Keltona**

It had taken several days for everyone to finally arrive, which wasn't entirely surprising given that they each had to make sure their peoples were in capable hands, but finally the council representatives for the Coalition of Planets had arrived. In the past two years the Coalition membership had expanded greatly in both member worlds and standing members on the council. The original three representatives Kelore, Dimas and Shiana were all present but the council had expanded along with its membership. Queen Harmony of Larris, as the leader of one of the most advanced non-industrial worlds that possessed Ancient technology and had not been culled by the Wraith for some time now, was present. Then there was Ladon Radim of the Genii as the Genii possesed the largest population of any people in the Pegasus galaxy. Next was Richard Woolsey officially representing Atlantis but technically representing the Tau'ri as a whole. Finally there was Larrin representing the Travellers who, while not technically having a single capital world to call their own, were the second most technologically advanced natives to Pegasus after the Averians.

When the Travellers had finally settled down and established a series of colonies with Tau'ri and Wraith assistance they had been formally introduced to the Coalition of Planets and had officially become members. The Genii had immediately become very interested in trading with this advanced space faring race, after they got over their surprise at their very existence, and had attempted to trade for technology. They had immediately hit a roadblock however when they discovered that the Travellers possessed everything they had and more and wanted nothing the Genii could offer. It wasn't even possible for the Genii to sneak in spies to gleam technological secrets since the Travellers possesed such a small and close community that they immediately spotted the strangers and kept an eye on them the entire time said strangers were trying to sell them tarva beans. The number of Genii traders on Traveller worlds had dropped dramatically after that, much to several people's amusement.

None of the Coalition members had been informed of the existence of the Averians, or the Vanir and the Asgard for that matter, at those races request. But they did know that the Tau'ri, being extragalactic themselves, had extragalactic allies that the Tau'ri had never bothered to introduce them to. It was a cruel twist of fate that they would now learn about them under such circumstances as the announcement of a potentially galaxy wide war.

"Thank you all for coming," began Woolsey. "I realise that the timing of this meeting must be inconvenient for many of you but I assure you that it is of the utmost importance."

"I'm sure it is," said Dimas. "However the rather cloak and dagger nature of this meeting is not something that is appreciated, perhaps you could please enlighten us as to the purpose of this gathering?"

"Of course," said Woolsey. "As many of you are no doubt aware my people have many allies and contact with other cultures that you yourselves have not yet been introduced to since they value their privacy."

"A fact we are very much aware of," said Shiana spitefully. "I hope that you intend to change that fact."

Woolsey gave her a cool look in return.

"I am here to make you aware of several of them at this time," he continued. "I believe that you have heard of a race called the Asgard?"

There was a general consensus of agreement amongst the representatives.

"We have heard rumours," said Larrin. "Of a space faring race that possess incredibly advanced technology that frequently work with you. In all our time in space though the Travellers have never encountered them however and it wasn't until your return to this galaxy that the rumours of their existence arose."

"The reason for that is simple," explained Woolsey. "The Asgard are not native to this galaxy."

"You know them from your own galaxy," surmised Ladon.

"That is correct," said Woolsey. "They have been our allies for some time now and we have helped them just as they have helped us. It was at our request that they began to establish a presence in this galaxy in order to deal with what we believed was a mutual problem."

"The Wraith?" asked Harmony.

Woolsey shook his head. "At the time we did hope that they would eventually join our fight against the Wraith but their appearance was motivated by another reason. Several years ago we encountered an offshoot of their race called the Vanir that had apparently arrived in this galaxy during the war against the Wraith ten thousand years ago. At the time we knew that they were the ones responsible for the activation of the Attero device that resulted in the destruction of several stargates and the loss of countless lives."

Larrin visibly flinched at the mention of the Attero device. The Travellers had lost an entire colony along with their Aurora class warship when the stargate there had exploded.

"What happened to these Vanir?" asked Larrin, with an edge to her voice.

"They were eventually tracked down and it was determined that the actions were undertaken by a rogue element that your people helped eliminate in its entirety," explained Woolsey. "The one ship that escaped the battle was heavily damaged and suffered a reactor breach shortly afterwards. There were no survivors."

"Good to know," Larrin muttered darkly.

"As I was saying," Woolsey continued. "The Vanir have since become our allies when we learned the truth, however when we met them we were introduced to another race of native humans that had allied themselves with the Vanir and since become our allies. They are called the Averians."

"Never heard of them," said Larrin. "I'm guessing they're not space capable."

Woolsey resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The Travellers were of the, slightly arrogant, belief that they were the most technologically advanced race in the galaxy. It didn't matter that the Tau'ri possesed technology well in advance of theirs because they weren't native to this galaxy.

"As it happens," said Woolsey. "They are space capable and as far as we can tell they have technology much more advanced than your own along with a very large fleet of ships."

Larrin's face was a picture of disbelief and Ladon was suppressing a grin.

"I don't believe it," she said. "How could any race have advanced to such a point without being annihilated by the Wraith?"

"That is a good question," added Ladon. They could all see the spark of curiosity twinkling in the eyes of the scientist turned commander.

"They are located on a world unknown to the Wraith in an isolated part of the galaxy," explained Woolsey. "They discovered basic examples of Ancient technology over time and learned of the Wraith at the same time and decided to prepare to fight them. It was with their assistance that we were able to finally eliminate the last of the human feeding Wraith and end the war."

He paused to take in the council's reactions to the news. There were many dark looks and mutterings about undeserved luck. It was rather expected given that they themselves could have advanced to such a point if they hadn't been repeatedly culled by the Wraith. Naturally they were wondering why this one world had been so lucky but it helped that they had at least been fighting against the Wraith.

"Why have they not come forward before now?" asked Kelore. "While it is obvious that a certain level of secrecy would be necessary for them to survive the threat of the Wraith has long since passed, so why are we only just hearing about them?"

At light speed Woolsey's brain was churning through the facts of the situation to come up with an appropriate answer to the question. For the Averians sake he was only told part of the story and not going into full details, for many reasons. If they knew the whole history about how they had been left with a cache of Ancient blue prints and scientific equations that had jump started their space age then they would be alienated and constantly judged. There would always be groups that would want to claim the technology for themselves and would demand that the contents of the Ark be shared, something that the Averian government would not allow. Then there would be groups that would be looking for an excuse to take over from the Averians should they ever make a single minor mistake. Not wanting to delve into the galactic politics shark pool was the very reason that the Averians had politely requested that they remain anonymous despite the sizeable contribution they made to bringing down the traitor twins. Of course another reason for not joining the Coalition was because of the obvious problem it would cause should a group as large and advanced as the Averians joining. As it stood if you added up the populations of every single Coalition world, which by now included nearly every single world in the Pegasus galaxy except for the most advanced, the population count only reached a little under ninety million even with the last two years of growth. The Averians though had a population count that had long since past the hundred million mark and was now well into the billions. This meant that they would easily overshadow the Coalition, which would cause untold problems for them and was one of the reasons they would rather keep their existence a secret.

"They have been isolated from the rest of the galaxy," began Woolsey. "As it stands they have slowly been preparing to make themselves known but they required time. The Averians have dedicated their future to fighting the Wraith threat, but when the threat suddenly disappeared so unexpectedly they found themselves at a loss for what to do next. They have had to alter all their plans for the future which made revealing themselves a problem they would rather have to deal with later on. However the current situation has forced their hand as it were."

"And just what is the situation?" asked Kelore.

Woolsey sighed.

"Many years ago a small group split from the Averians after a disagreement arose. This group intended to battle the Wraith by bringing the native populace of the galaxy under their control and using you all as a potential labour and ground force to aid in the fight. Rest assured that the current Averian government and the previous one detested this idea which caused this group to be exiled. Now they have returned in force, after they stole a cache of classified information from the Averian government, and have revealed plans to conquer this galaxy while exterminating the Wraith and anyone else who gets in their way."

The Coalition members were stunned into silence allowing Woolsey to continue unchallenged.

"The Zarasians as they are called are lead by a man named Zarin and the threat they pose should not be taken lightly. My people and our allies are even now engaged in battle against them but the problem is finding them. When they left Averia several thousand years ago they vanished and as it stands we currently have to comb the galaxy to root them out leaving us on the defensive."

"You are saying there is an advanced race out there that is planning on conquering the galaxy and you don't even know where they are?" said Shiana in disbelief.

"Allied forces are currently engaged in battle against Zarasian forces as well as standing guard over many worlds," said Woolsey calmly. "The purpose of the current battle is to acquire information that we may use to neutralise the threat they possess as well as rescue a member of the Wraith race from captivity. Helping our allies is something we take very seriously."

"And what if you lose?" asked Ladon. "I assume you have a back-up contingency in place?"

Woolsey nodded.

"While I should point out that the chances of the allied forces losing the battle is practically impossible given our technological and numerical superiority, and that we are extremely determined to succeed, we do have an alternative should we be forced onto the defensive. With our technology we can monitor the Zarasians movements and have enough warning to prepare for their arrival. If we need to we can evacuate entire worlds of its population or deploy forces to defend them."

"You would have us leave our worlds?" asked Shiana.

"If it necessary for your survival, yes," said Woolsey calmly.

"And you would choose which worlds are to be saved and which are to be lost to this enemy we know nothing about?" asked Shiana sceptically.

In response Woolsey pulled out a compact disc object from his pocket and placed it on the conference table in front of him. Pushing a small button the disc lit up and a holographic projection appeared. Displayed were the three corpses of the reapers they had recovered from the crippled fighter they found two years ago.

"These are reapers," explained Woolsey, all traces of complacency gone from his voice. He was now a man on a mission. "They are genetically engineered foot soldiers with cybernetic implants connected to their brains robbing them of emotions while making them completely obedient. We believe the enemy to have an army of these expendable creatures large enough to lay siege to this entire galaxy. The Zarasians have been preparing to wipe out the staggering numbers the Wraith could produce with sheer numbers and only slightly better technology. This is an enemy we don't want to have to fight a war of attrition against if we don't have to."

"If the enemy are fighting you then isn't it more likely they will focus their attention on you since you are the greater threat," reasoned Ladon. "You, these Averians, the Asgard and the Wraith are the only ones in this galaxy that have warships of some description that could pose a threat to them."

"That is true," agreed Woolsey. "However there will come a time when they will feel it necessary to begin capturing other worlds to increase their industrial capabilities. Zarin has shown that he is not above using his subjects purely to service his plans for conquest so I'm sure you can imagine what he would think of those who are not fearfully loyal to him."

He let that sink in a little, taking in the reactions of the assembled representatives. The mood was certainly dark.

"Will they use orbital bombardment?" asked Ladon, his face sketched with worry.

"They have done in the past when they wished to inflict damage rather than capture a target," said Woolsey, recalling the attack on the Wraith world.

"That means they will most likely destroy our worlds rather than attempt to capture them if they thought we would be able to resist them," reasoned Ladon.

"Unfortunately that is most likely true," agreed Woolsey. "Being highly militarised your people would prove difficult to overwhelm quickly and Zarin may decide that it would be easier to simply annihilate you."

"Let me be certain of one thing," said Dimas. "You are offering your support to protect our worlds should they come under attack. That is the purpose of this meeting?"

Woolsey hesitated before speaking.

"The purpose of this meeting is to warn you of the threat so that you can prepare for it."

"How?" asked Ladon. "We do not have the ability to fight an enemy with ships that destroy our worlds from orbit where we cannot threaten them. Even the Traveller fleet is limited and won't be able to last against a dedicated assault. Many Coalition worlds do not even have the ability to fight on land so how do you expect us to prepare to fight them?"

Woolsey sighed.

"We don't," he said. "We need you to prepare to temporarily evacuate your worlds."

"You wish us to abandon our worlds before they even come under threat?" asked Shiana, her expression showing her outrage at such a notion.

"Ideally yes," said Woolsey "In order to safeguard your people from harm we need to have them where we can protect them since we don't have the forces to protect so many worlds that the Coalition occupies."

"However we realise that isn't possible for those of you with larger populations," he continued, looking directly at Ladon.

The other representatives looked at Ladon as well with a hint of suspicion. They all knew that the Genii had kept their capabilities as a fairly advanced race, by Pegasus standards anyway, secret from the rest of the galaxy so they could build up their forces without the Wraith knowing. No one was aware of what the exact number for the Genii populace was but there were estimates.

"Our estimates put your population at around ten percent of the Coalitions total Ladon," said Woolsey. "So that would be around nine million."

Several of the council representatives went wide eyed at that proclamation. It wasn't surprising really since most Pegasus worlds populations numbered in the tens of thousands at the most. Even the Travellers only had about thirty thousand people, albeit due to population restrictions on their ships.

"Long ago in our history, after the Wraith decimated the Genii confederation," said Ladon. "One of our leaders saw the need for numbers if we were to ever successfully fight against the Wraith. He instituted an order for a minimum child birth rate so that our numbers would grow but at a sustainable rate. The result of this is that today we now have a population of a little over ten million spread across many worlds, some of which we have only just begun to reclaim in the past two years."

"You kept this from the rest of the Coalition," accused Shiana. "Why?"

Ladon shrugged. "There were plans to allow certain members of the Coalition to learn of this information so that we could fight the Wraith but with the threat gone it was not necessary to broadcast it."

"You should have told us," said Dimas.

"And the Tau'ri should have told us about the war they were fighting sooner," deflected Ladon. "But what is done is done."

"Your population was much larger before the Wraith forced you underground, correct?" asked Woolsey.

"Yes that is correct," said Ladon with a hint of sadness at the thought of so many lost lives.

"Your former worlds are also highly industrialised," said Woolsey. "And even though they have been abandoned for some time most of the buildings on some are still standing and only require repairs to become habitable, correct?"

"They are," said Ladon studying Woolsey with a calculating look. "Many of our worlds were levelled by the Wraith but I believe with your help we could restore the less badly damaged ones."

"Our idea ladies and gentlemen," said Woolsey. "Is to move your populace to these worlds if it should prove necessary and to have our forces stand guard over them. If this is not possible then we have a back-up plan. The Genii can provide additional ground security so that you will not feel like you are surrounded by aliens."

"Aliens?" asked Harmony curiously. She had never personally met someone truly alien before.

"The Asgard race is humanoid but they look very different to us," explained Woolsey. "We also plan on calling in support from our other allies that aren't yet fighting this war with us and while they certainly look like us the Jaffa race has double the life span of a human."

"I hope you will be providing us with information on these races," said Shiana sternly, causing Woolsey to mentally delete the 'I hope' part of that last statement.

"I have information dossiers and brief history outlines of these races for you all to view," said Woolsey. "Let me be clear that while these races have had troubled histories they are to date trusted allies of ours."

There was a general murmuring, as the representatives contemplated the various possibilities of a troubled history, before a general consensus of agreement was made.

"Since the Zarasians are a threat to us all would you be willing to share, or at least trade, for some of your technology?" asked Larrin hopefully. "If we had better shields and weapons we would be able to assist you in the fighting and defence of these worlds if we need them."

Woolsey gave her a stern look. "As you know my people do not trade technology with less advanced races, just as you yourselves do not."

Larrin winced slightly at the barbed retort and Ladon visibly suppressed a grin, even though it still showed through.

"Is there anything else?" asked Dimas, trying to hastily change the subject before this old argument could resurface.

One of the laws that several members of the Coalition had tried to pass was that some technology should be shared among member worlds. Naturally the ones pushing for this most had been the Genii and the Travellers. Woolsey had immediately turned around and made it clear, without stating outright, that the Tau'ri would leave the Coalition if such a law was passed without their approval. The Travellers then found themselves backtracking hastily and also threatening their resignation, which lead to the domino effect of the Genii strongly supporting the motions failure when they would be forced to share their technology for nothing.

"As a matter of fact yes," said Woolsey. "While you have your own guards here we feel that the security is not sufficient to protect this world. With the permission of this council we would like to install shielding to protect this bunker from detection and relocate the stargate below ground. We would also like to place several cloaked defence satellites in orbit in case the world is ever discovered by the Zarasians."

Again there was a general murmuring and nodding of heads as the council members gave their approval. While they were grateful for the protection it would afford them there was some doubt as to handing over their safety to the Tau'ri.

"How long would these changes take to implement and what would they involve?" asked Ladon.

"The satellites would simply need to be placed in orbit and set to only target enemy vessels and not surface targets," explained Woolsey. "For this bunker though we would need to install a dampening field generator along with a hidden shield generator on the surface along with a power generator. The stargate can be easily relocated at any time with our beaming technology once an appropriate chamber is chosen."

"Does this mean we can't come here by ship anymore?" asked Larrin. The space born Traveller rarely went anywhere without at least one of her peoples ships.

"For the sake of secrecy it would be preferable if you could arrive by stargate," said Woolsey. "Of course my people will also do the same."

"Are we all in agreement to Mister Woolsey's proposal?" Dimas asked.

The assembled representatives nodded their approval.

"Then I call this meeting to a close," announced Dimas.

"I have the information dossiers for you to look over," said Woolsey, giving Larrin a subtle look.

Taking the hint Larrin waited for the last of the representatives to collect the dossier provided by Woolsey before taking her own.

"Would you mind giving me a lift to my ship?" she asked.

"Of course," said Woolsey before tapping his ear bud. "Two to beam."

The pair disappeared in a flash of light to reappear in the conference room of a Tau'ri vessel in orbit.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, still slightly miffed at being denied her wish for better technology for her people.

"Your people have clearly heard of the Asgard from your time spent in our company but have you heard of the Alliance of Four Great Races?" Woolsey asked while settling into a chair.

Larrin shrugged. "Something about an old alliance between the Asgard, the Ancients and two other races I know nothing about. Apparently your people are supposed to the fifth race."

Woolsey smiled. "The other two races are the Nox, who are still around today but maintain a pacifist isolationist stance, and the Furlings, who haven't been seen for a long time."

"Furlings?" asked Larrin with a smirk. "So I'm guessing they're really hairy guys."

Woolsey grimaced. "That seems to be a lot of people's reactions when they hear the name. I once asked Thor what they looked like and the answer was interesting to say the least. Sheppard showed your people a few horror movies I believe when you stopped by for a visit every now and again?"

"He did," said Larrin, who had a sneaking suspicion she knew where this was going.

"After studying some parts of our history the Asgard came to the conclusion that before they vanished completely they visited Earth in human form to observe their ally's children," explained Woolsey. "They believe that at certain times though their disguise might have, for lack of a better word, faltered and their true forms were revealed. As a result it marked the origins of the legend of the werewolf or wolf man."

Larrin sat there stunned for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.

"You can't be serious?"

"Apparently it's true."

"You mean there are quite possibly still creatures out there that can only be harmed by silver bullets and can turn people into creatures like themselves by biting or scratching them?" she asked in disbelief. Believing in aliens and space vampires was one thing, but werewolves? Surely this was a joke.

"Actually those ideas come from more recent fiction and have no basis in truth," explained Woolsey. "But the legends about human shape shifters find their roots in history from many thousands of years ago and these more closely resemble what is known about the Furlings."

"You said they had vanished," said Larrin. "Any chance of them reappearing again?"

"To be honest not even the Asgard know what happened to them," said Woolsey. "We don't know why they vanished so we don't know if they ever will come back."

"You didn't bring me up here just to tell me all this," said Larrin. "What did you really want to talk about?"

"We have an invitation to extend to you," said Woolsey, with a certain amount of dramatic flair. "We would like to invite the Travellers to join the new Alliance of Great Races."

* * *

**Vanheim**

In orbit of the Vanir world the _Kalen Aror_ exited hyperspace. The ship had been completely out of the crew's control the entire journey, much to their frustration. Shortly behind them the _Weir_ appeared, having been making short jumps in order to keep track of the ship's strangely erratic course. To the crew of the _Weir_ it appeared that the crew of the _Aror_ had been trying to shrug off possible pursuers and hide their end destination. What they didn't realise though is that the crew of the _Aror_ had done no such thing and that their own ship had turned against them. But they didn't know that because all of their hails had been ignored.

But when the Aror exited hyperspace the ship automatically started communicating with the computers of the hidden city below on an encrypted frequency. Anyone monitoring the city's computer mainframe would notice that access codes were being transmitted and upon confirmation a download took place. The moment the download was complete the crew of the _Aror_ found themselves with full control over their ship again. Whatever had hijacked the control systems had vanished and as would be noted by the flickering lights throughout the city had moved on to the Vanir mainframe.

Throughout the city the inhabitants stopped what they were doing and looked around as a wave of flickering lighting originated from the main transceiver, across the city and finally into a private medical wing. In this wing, in a private room and hooked up to numerous pieces of monitoring equipment lay Sovaer. All this time he had been comatose and as a result had to be fed intravenously. Connected to his head was an interface cable that linked to the main computer that was attempting to stimulate his inactive brain and access the stored data on his chip implant, so far without success.

As the wave of flickering lights hit the wing they halted and focused on the medical equipment. Sparks flew around the room as the foreign presence flitted about the local systems before finally focussing on the main computer. The two connection points of the interface cable crackled with energy as the seals around them were briefly overwhelmed by the amount of raw data being channelled through it. Sovaer's comatose body, which had been motionless ever since he was recovered from the Zarasian flagship, started to spasm in response to the data flow. The readings on the monitoring equipment that had been minimal just a moment ago became erratic as his heart rate and blood pressure began to spike. Just as soon it started it stopped and his body stilled and his readings normalised to what they had been before. Then without warning both his hands gripped the side of the bed and he sat bolt upright, eyes wide open in shock. He took a deep breath as though he was starved for air before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed onto the bed. His readings were still the same but with one major difference, this time his brain activity readings were normal.

As Sovaer lay on the bed, unconscious but definitely no longer comatose, alarms started blaring and medical personnel poured into the room. Yet despite the noise from the blaring alarms and frantic voices Sovaer slept soundly, content in the knowledge that he was home at last.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	51. Overdue Reunions

**invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

* * *

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: When compared to the previous Alliance of Great Races i can see where the confusion comes from. The question people should be asking is who else is going to be a part of the new Alliance of Great Races.**

**BIG Z1776: It hasn't really been much time since they were first deposited on their new planets, barely over a month since the Lucians arrived and only about two weeks at the most for the Tollan. I intend to reassure your doubts regarding the Travellers.**

**Cdoctor: I don't really have a plan for bringing the Furlings back into the universe at large, i might do though if enough people request it.**

**Oddliver: Thank you. I hope you enjoy this one.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**stormwolf3710: That's a question a lot of people have been asking, which means it was a good cliffhanger. You are not the only one wondering, and that goes for in story as well.**

**SkywalkerT-65: They might appear, they might not. The New Alliance of Great Races is something that will be explored in more detail in this chapter.**

**Naginator: Well, not this time. Who can say what the future holds, oh wait i can. ;)**

**Compbrain1720: Sometimes i look back at all i have written and can't believe how far this story has come. I'm actually writing chapter 55 at the moment and i feel like i won't stop writing for some time to come.**

**drewc: You're not alone.**

**romanhellhound: So do i, so i'm not about to let him go down so easily.**

** : Don't worry i will.**

**the brown cow: I try.**

* * *

**Tau'ri Vessel – Conference Room**

"Who else is going to be a part of this Alliance?" Larrin managed.

"Us, the Asgard, the Nox, the Averians, the Vanir, the Wraith, the Jaffa, the Hebridans and the Liberum," said Woolsey with a small smile of amusement at her shock. "And of course the Traveller people if your ruling council accepts the offer."

"I'm sorry but I have to ask," said Larrin, still shocked at the offer that had just been made. "Why us?"

"Why not you?" asked Woolsey innocently.

"Don't play games with me Mister Woolsey," said Larrin indignantly. "You and I know both know that my people can't hope to match up to races like you or the Wraith or the Averians, let alone races I've never even heard of."

"Ah, I thought this might come up so I took the liberty of including a little extra information in your dossier regarding the Hebridians that the other representatives didn't need to know about," explained Woolsey. "Please take a moment to read through the information."

Larrin finally opened the collection of papers she had been given and started to read. It was interesting to watch her expression flicker between emotions as she absorbed the information. When she finally finished reading she sank back into her chair, her eyes wide from all she had just learned.

"They've been through so much," she said softly.

"They have," agreed Woolsey. "You know we didn't even have a name for the Liberum people until they chose one for themselves. When we were fighting them we had simply referred to them and their ascended masters collectively as the Ori."

"So what made them choose Liberum?" asked Larrin.

"In the Ancient language it translates to free," explained Woolsey. "I'm sure you can appreciate the irony."

"Nice," said Larrin with a small smile. "But that still doesn't answer my question. How can my people possibly hope to measure up to such great races?"

Woolsey chuckled.

"My dear are you fishing for compliments?" he asked. "Or maybe you actually believe your own fiction."

Larrins eyes narrowed in anger.

"And what fiction would that be?" she asked, with an edge to her voice.

"I know you constantly argue that your people need better technology than what you currently have but surely you can't actually believe that you are completely helpless?"

"I don't have to sit here and listen to you insult my people Mister Woolsey," said a now angry Larrin, rising from her seat.

"Larrin sit down," said Woolsey in a firm and commanding voice. "Now please."

Reluctantly Larrin did as she was told and sat back down.

"I am not insulting you or your people Larrin," he explained in a much calmer voice. "I was merely trying to point out that your people have accomplished great things and you don't even realise it. Your people struggled to survive in a galaxy full of danger and yet here you are today. When every other race on the Wraiths radar was barely able to make it to the electricity stage of development your people managed to build ships capable of housing your entire race and supporting them for generations to come. How many of the races you have learned about can say they have done that?"

"None," she admitted. "But my people are still so small in number compared to these other races and less advanced."

"You think so?" asked Woolsey doubtfully. "You built those so called inferior ships with your own hands. You can explain how every piece of technology on them works and all of your people possess this knowledge. Granted we are trying to help them resolve that issue but there are many people of those other races who aren't so fortunate."

Larrin grinned. "You really think we're that good?"

Woolsey sighed. "What your people have accomplished is impressive. No one can deny that."

"So what would it mean to be a part of the Alliance?" she asked curiously now that her ego had been soothed.

"Well for starters you would be welcome on the world in this galaxy where we are building the Alliance headquarters," Woolsey explained. "Only dignitaries from member races will have access to the headquarters. In addition the members will provide support for one another during times of need, including military and medical aid, such as during the conflict against the Zarasians. As such the Alliance will also be responsible for safeguarding the galaxies they inhabit from internal and external threats. We will also participate in trading and a cultural exchange so that we can learn more about one another and experience the others' way of life."

Larrin mulled all that over for a moment.

"What about technological trades?" she asked with a hint of eagerness in her voice. "Will technology be shared as well?"

"Member races are not obligated to simply give away technology," he replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the almost predictable question. "However certain races may be inclined to trade for technology. The Hebridans have a large market for such which you would have access to."

Larrin sighed. "But they would most likely ask for technology in exchange, which is an area we are lacking in."

"Of course they would," said Woolsey. "But you are forgetting that your ships themselves are a great asset. Each one was capable of supporting hundreds of people even in their most run down condition and now that they have all been fully repaired their capabilities are greatly improved. The design plans for those will be highly valued since no other race has a ship similar to their capabilities that doesn't posses matter synthesiser technology and only the Asgard and my own people have that. Not to mention that I can see people queuing up to purchase one of your particle magnums."

"You really do like to hammer home a point don't you," said Larrin jokingly. "But once we sell the designs we won't have much to offer."

Woolsey sighed.

"You are still missing the point. Your people were creative enough to keep your ships running all this time and to invent the technology in the first place. Now you have an opportunity that was never possible while the Wraith were still in power. With your colonies and infrastructure established, your ships repaired and your people being protected instead of devoting all of your energy to keeping your ships running you can start to expand once again. Your people have brilliant minds so imagine what they can accomplish when exposed to new ideas and technology. With a little work they could easily improve upon the designs and technologies you already have and those you can acquire."

"Okay, okay," said Larrin, raising her hands in surrender. "I get the point."

"I'm glad," said Woolsey. "Because it'll be your job to make your ruling council understand as well."

"Thank you for that," grumbled Larrin.

"Look on the bright side," said Woolsey. "You get to personally present them with this wonderful opportunity."

"There is that," admitted Larrin.

"By the way what is this back-up plan you spoke of if the Genii worlds prove unviable for supporting everyone?" she asked as a thought occurred to her.

"Oh just an alternative world that we will develop ourselves to house the people of Pegasus," said Woolsey dismissively. "The plans are already in place for us to use should we need to and with our allies assistance it wouldn't take long to implement. If we need to use it we will but we are making sure the option is there should we need it."

"Do you think you will?" asked Larrin.

"We're exploring the first option fully before we commit to anything else but it will take time to determine the viability of the Genii worlds," explained Woolsey. "The only reason this option exists is because we are worried about the feasibility of our first plan given what we know about Genii worlds."

"I see your point," said Larrin. "Most of the Genii worlds have been abandoned for quite some time and the good ones are already taken or not up to scratch."

"Precisely the reason for Plan B," said Woolsey.

"Do you people always have a Plan B?" asked Larrin with that trademark smirk of hers.

"In this case we have a Plan C as well," said Woolsey. "Although we are rather hesitant to have to use it."

"Why?" Larrin asked curiously. "What is it?"

"The complete evacuation of this galaxy by the human populace of less advanced worlds," explained Woolsey with a frown.

Larrin whistled. "I can see why you don't want to have to go with that plan. The circumstances would have to be pretty dire."

"Exactly."

"I'll present this information to my people," said Larrin. "But hopefully they should say yes."

"If not then I'm sure you will be able to convince them," said Woolsey.

"No pressure then," said Larrin, rising from her seat. "Guess it's time for me to head back to my ship."

Woolsey stood with her. "Good luck."

He tapped his ear piece. "Beam Miss Larrin to her ship please."

With the familiar white light of beaming technology Larrin vanished from the conference room.

* * *

**Vanheim**

Sovaer had only been back in his own body for a few hours now and already he was beginning to wish he had stuck to being confined to the computer systems of the _Aror_, or any computer system for that matter that was in friendly hands. His cyborg body had been subjected to all manner of pokes and prods as the Vanir scientists performed their various tests both for his sake and for their own curiosity. Thankfully it didn't cause him any pain but it was really annoying to be confined to a hospital bed despite the fact that he was perfectly fine.

The Vanir scientists however were determined to find out what had happened to him despite the fact that he knew exactly what had happened to him and had repeatedly told them. Apparently though that wasn't enough for the members of the cybernetics division because they wanted to know how it had happened even though quite frankly that was anyone's guess.

With the Vanir off running tests on the various samples they had cheerfully taken he had finally been left in peace but with strict instructions that he was confined to bed. So now he had chosen to try and get some sleep. Unfortunately his latest visitor had no intention of letting him sleep without speaking to him first.

"Hello Aerin," said a familiar voice from the doorway.

Sovaer smiled, his eyes snapping open as he sat up.

"It's good to see you again…" he trailed off as he saw the dark look on his friends face.

"You're a fool," said Jakose.

Sovaer sighed and settled back onto the pillows.

"I did what I had to JJ," he said softly. "And if I had to I would do it again."

"Why?" Jakose demanded. "Why did you do it? Why did you do it again?"

"You know why," said Sovaer, his voice still soft. "It's my duty to do this kind of thing. It's my job for crying out loud."

"You always do this though Sovaer," Jakose said angrily. "You always put yourself right in front of danger. Ever since that damn test accident you've been finding more and more creative ways of putting yourself in harm's way."

"What have I done JJ?" Sovaer asked. "I've done my job. I've protected you. I volunteered for the cyborg program despite the risks because I thought it would be worth it."

"You didn't have to! You could have taken their first offer and gotten a clone body but you said no. You just put yourself in harms way and take the risk of one of the countless surgeries going wrong and you dying."

"And the end result was that I survived and the Vanir gained a more in depth knowledge of cybernetics that could have helped restore them to their original forms," said Sovaer. "I in turn was able to become faster, stronger and quite possibly nearly immortal and am better able to act as your bodyguard."

"And what did you do with those enhancements of yours?" asked Jakose exasperatedly. "You hooked yourself up to an enemy computer and nearly died because of your virus and for what? For information we might never be able to access."

"So that you, the leader of our people, could be rescued from the clutches of a maniac," said Sovaer. "So that we could gain the information needed to allow us to end this war quickly instead of constantly looking over our shoulders waiting for an attack which could come from anywhere because we have no idea where the enemy even is."

"And because of that all we got out of that rescue was your comatose body," continued Jakose. "Because, as I have just learned, your mind was apparently stuck inside the computer of the damned Zarasian flagship until we managed to track the damn thing down. At which point you were able to transfer yourself before they deleted you like you were a virus and managed to get here before Admiral Xander decided to forcibly pull the plug on you because you took control of his ship."

"I had the situation well under hand," said Sovaer. "I locked out control of the Aror to any outside intervention using my access codes and was able to safely transfer my mind back into my own body."

"You could have died!"

"But I didn't."

Jakose breathed deeply as he ran out of fuel for his tirade.

"Feel better?" asked Sovaer, looking at his friend for the first time since Jakose started venting and with a small smile on his face.

"Much," Jakose breathed striding forward to take a seat by his friend's bedside.

"While I appreciate the fact that you went with the short version this time you really need to find a better anger management solution than yelling at me," said Sovaer. "Spending time with your wife always seems to make you happy so why not try that next time?"

Jakose snorted. "I wouldn't have to yell at you if you didn't do these things. Clarice sends her love by the way and asks that you please stop taking such risks."

"Tell her thank you and that it comes with the territory," replied Sovaer.

"So change territory," Jakose argued.

"Not a chance if it means I can't protect you old friend and you and I both know that Clarice appreciates that more," Sovaer pointed out.

"Unfortunately you're right," admitted Jakose. "What the hell happened anyway?"

"You didn't get the report?" asked Sovaer.

"You know I prefer hearing things first hand," said Jakose. "I've heard the reports from the others now tell me what happened from your own perspective."

Sovaer sighed.

"Well to be honest I'm a little hazy on the details myself. Well you know that I was being attacked by anti-viral programs and pinching as much classified information as I could. I realised that the only way to knock out the flagship was to take down their systems and that I couldn't get out without exposing our location so I released the virus. I expected that when the virus hit me I would at best be left with a few fried neurons and at worst be killed but if that happened you could at least extract the chip from my head."

When he saw the dark look Jakose gave him at those last words he hastily added. "It wasn't the best plan I admit but it was all I had given the situation and I thought it would be worth it."

"Anyway," he continued. "What I didn't count on was that the virus would have an unknown side effect when you disconnected me. It seems that the virus scrambled my avatar to the point that when you disconnected me my mind actually stayed in the damn computer core which was the last thing I expected to happen. Anyway some time after the virus had knocked out the entire computer core and you and my body had been rescued I woke up inside the computer core. It took me a little while to work out what had happened but I still have no idea just how it happened exactly. When I realised that they were trying to fix the computer system I realised that the only way to stop them from deleting the entire computer core and reloading the operating system was to interfere and force them to manually correct every single subroutine if they ever wanted the ship to fly again. It seemed to work and I was able to escape their notice since I wasn't a broken subroutine. My plan was to hide in the computer core and acquire any information I could before transmitting myself to one of our vessels. I certainly was surprised when the ships sensors detected the fleet, and more importantly the _Aror_, in orbit. When I realised the fleet was apparently intent on destroying everything in sight and you apparently had a team disabling the reactors I realised that it was probably time to get out of dodge. So I transmitted my access codes to the Aror to bypass the firewalls and transferred my mind into the ship's computer. Since I was familiar with those systems I was able to take control of the ship without compromising life support and set a course for Vanheim since I figured that's where my body would be. Once I arrived here I used my access codes again and transferred my mind into the city's mainframe. After that it was easy enough to transfer my mind back into my body using the interface. It was by far the weirdest thing I have ever done but I must admit it is good to be back in my own skin."

Jakose didn't say anything for about a minute. It seemed he was processing this information and mentally compiling it with the reports from other parties.

"Were you able to learn anything while you were in the computer core?" he finally asked.

"Unfortunately no," said Sovaer, tapping his head. "Anything I learned is right in here on my storage chip but that's it I'm afraid. The systems were so badly scrambled that I was lucky to be able to stop them from deleting the entire thing. The Vanir sure know how to design a virus that'll really mess up your day."

"Well hopefully now that you're all there again we'll be able to access that chip again," said Jakose. "It seems we couldn't do it while you were comatose without performing a vivisection."

Sovaer let out a low whistle. "Well thanks for that."

"Apparently just cutting out a small piece of grey matter was too much of a risk since you apparently have so little of it," said Jakose with a mischievous grin.

"Oh thank you very much," said Sovaer in mock hurt.

"You know its funny but I've always said there was nothing in there," Jakose continued jovially. "I never thought I would actually be proved right."

"I think I preferred you when you were angry at me," said Sovaer grumpily. "So what's been happening while I was away?"

"Well the attack on the outpost was a success," said Jakose. "Zarin being a total nut case decided to blow the whole place to oblivion but we rather expected that and were able to save his flagship which should prove to be a mine of information. The best part is that he doesn't even know we have it since we snuck your SPECTRE team aboard to disable the generators and then shielded it from the blast wave."

"So that's why those generators were being disabled," Sovaer realised. "Sneaky, cunning and decidedly genius. I very much approve."

"Glad to hear that," said Jakose. "Oh and the plans for the Alliance of Great Races are being finalised. I'm told that Concordia is finally ready for us to move people there now that the defence grid is online."

"You mean the cloaked satellite based weapons, hidden ground emplacements, planetary shield grid and surface based shield?" said Sovaer. "Not to mention the massive fleet that can be called to protect from every one of the allied races."

"That's the one," said Jakose. "Although the Hebridans are apparently still busy with the Aschen so their fleet will otherwise be occupied in their home galaxy."

"Well you can't blame them for that," said Sovaer. "If I could I would want to deal with those sterility causing bastards myself as well."

"I'm told it shouldn't be long now," said Jakose. "Apparently they have them penned in nicely and are slowly tightening the noose. Eventually it will come to the point where the Aschen will be stuck with their own people to do their work and no nearby worlds to subjugate."

"Good to know," said Sovaer. "One question though."

"What is it?"

"Can I please get out of bed," Sovaer pleaded. "I heard the medical staff talking about a rescued queen being brought in so I really want to find out the story behind that."

"Ah yes," said Jakose. "Todd's sister. I actually want to see this one for myself."

"Wait, Todd has a sister?" asked a very surprised Sovaer. "A living one?"

"So it would seem," said Jakose. "Apparently this one helped him get his mother to safety and was assumed killed."

Sovaer sat up and started to clamber out of bed. His artificial muscles not even slightly affected by his former comatose state.

"Let me get dressed and then I want you to tell me everything," he said, looking around the room for his clothes.

"Alright," said Jakose as he got up to leave. "But don't over do it on your first day."

"You know me JJ," said Sovaer with a grin.

"That isn't comforting," said Jakose, completing the joke, before the door whisked shut behind him.

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_**

With multiple ships locking tractor beams onto her the Zarasian flagship had been towed into orbit over Vanheim. Before they had started dragging the ship to a new destination they had performed a quick sweep to remove both the subspace beacon left by Sovaer and any other tracking devices that the Zarasians might have left behind. Their scans had turned up no traces of any tracking devices, especially not with main power still offline and half the systems still scrambled.

In fact there were only two things on the entire ship that were still working properly aside from the anti-gravity suspension collar attached to the hull. Life support, which was being powered by emergency back-up batteries and the generators in the suspension collar, and the hatchery, which had its own independent power supply that couldn't be tampered with under any circumstances.

The entire vessel was now swarming with soldiers and scientists from the allied forces, although the soldiers were really only there out of habit since this was an enemy ship and weren't actually needed. The _Doom Bringer_'s arrival had meant that Sovaer had finally been able to get some peace and quiet as almost the entire Vanir cybernetics division had flocked to the ship and its captive Wraith queen like moths to a flame. The reapers had fascinated the Vanir since they had first discovered them, since they too had used cybernetics to augment their clone bodies before they had switched to purely android forms. Before their attempts at solving their genetic degradation problem had only involved adding cybernetics to buy them more time, but now they were tackling the overall problem from the opposite direction. Any chance to gain ideas to better incorporating organic components with their biological forms was bound to instantly grab their attention. As such the hatchery and other associated rooms were overflowing with Vanir talking excitedly in their native language as they poured over the Zarasian technology and more Asgard were even now arriving from Ida. There were even a few science vessels on their way here now to lend their support to the study of the flagship.

While the majority of the Vanir scientists were present to satisfy their own scientific curiosity some of the brightest minds of theirs and several other races had arrived with the sole intention of aiding in keeping the captive Eurielle alive. They knew for a fact that it was easily possible for them to keep her alive by leaving her connected to the various machines. More importantly they knew that disconnecting her too quickly from those pumping the numerous and exotic drugs into her system could lead to total organ failure but that wasn't their biggest concern right now. They could easily wean her off the various drugs but the real problem were the cybernetic interfaces wired directly into her brain. One small slip up there and they could turn her into a vegetable, something no amount of medicine or Wraith regenerative abilities would be able to fix.

Along his and Jakose's way to the hatchery Sovaer had many cheerful reunions with familiar faces. Vanir and humans he had known for years and aliens he had gotten to know in recent times since the Averians joined the galactic stage all stopped in their tasks to welcome him back. Outside the hatchery Sovaer had a very cheerful reunion with his SPECTRE teammates, minus Todd and Eir who were busy working in the lab, who were guarding the room.

Ronon gave him a slap on the back, Teyla hugged him and Jason gave him a nod and a friendly smile.

"It's good to be back and I missed you all too," he assured them. "So I hear you all went and had some fun without me?"

"Next time," Ronon assured him.

"I'll hold you to that," Sovaer replied as he walked into the lab.

Looking around he saw various Vanir and human scientists examining equipment, some he recognised and others he did not.

Gathered around the containment pod holding Eurielle were McKay, Sheppard, Todd, Eir, Beckett, Echidna and Typhoeus. He received smiles of welcome from all of them, save Todd and Echidna whose attention was focused entirely on Eurielle.

"I don't care for your excuses Doctor," Echidna was saying to Beckett as he entered. "I want to know why I can't even talk to my daughter."

Beckett shrugged, which only seemed to aggravate her further. So far Eurielle, despite apparently being conscious, hadn't said a word to anyone. She wasn't even responding to their presence. It was like she was asleep with her eyes open.

"Sometimes the brain just says sleep," he replied.

"That isn't an answer," she yelled before Todd placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mother," Todd said firmly.

"Echidna," Typhoeus added warningly. "They are only trying to help."

Echidna sighed as Typhoeus leaned his holographic forehead against hers. Although physically the action had no effect mentally the two were connecting and Typhoeus was soothing her storm filled mind with the calm of his own.

Eir looked at the two thoughtfully before speaking.

"Actually you might be able to," she said.

"What?" Echidna asked, her gaze locking onto the Vanir.

"If you can link with her telepathically you might just be able to talk to her," Eir explained.

"Will that actually work?" Sheppard asked.

"It should do," said McKay. "As far as I can tell there are no inhibitors in any of this technology designed to prevent telepathic communication."

"Alright then we'll try that," said Echidna. "I will make the connection."

"As will I," added Todd.

"And I will connect with the both of you and translate for the others," added Typhoeus.

It was a role the living ship being had grown used to since he gained a holographic form. It certainly helped that he could modulate his voice to match that of those communicating telepathically, even if it was a little eerie.

Echidna closed her eyes and placed both a hand against the side of Eurielle's temple. Todd stood beside her and did the same.

"Eurielle," Echidna and Todd sent. "Can you hear us Eurielle?"

"Mother, brother," was the faint reply. "Is that you?"

"It is us Eurielle."

"Mother, brother," she said, sending her joy across the connection. "I am so glad that you still live."

"Eurielle, why did you not speak to us before?"

"I could not," she replied and they could feel her sadness. "I am not there to speak to you."

"Yes you are," they insisted. "We are right in front of you now, can't you see us?"

"That is not me!" she insisted and they could swear she was mentally weeping. "That is just a copy! A clone created from my flesh whose mind is linked to mine! I do not know where I am but that is not me!"

* * *

**Please Review. Also i am still taking requests.**


	52. Revelations

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: You're welcome. If i took away one of the Zarasians most valuable resources that would make things far too easy. Besides the rescue wasn't so much easy as I find it difficult deciding where to end a chapter, so something dramatic seemed best.**

**Scourge75: I thought i should expand a little more on those two, and i knew the reunion would be far too important to simply gloss over. So i decided to kill two birds with one stone.**

**Cdoctor: I'll see what i can do about the Furlings but no promises i'm afraid. Everyone thought they rescued her but apparently not. **

**Oddliver: And after all that they went through too.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Hope you enjoy this one.**

**stormwolf3710: Glad i could answer your question. I've been planning that little twist for some time now, i finally got to use it.**

**Naginator: Thank you.**

**romanhellhound: Indeed it will be.**

**the brown cow: Oh yes she will, among other things.**

**AerchAngel: Thabk you very much. I was looking forward to playing that particular card.**

**vash1914: Rodney is otherwise occupied and as i explained your idea isn't really feasible i'm afraid.**

** : Indeed.**

**Andriabow: In my universe it's not always that easy.**

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_ – Hatchery**

Echidna's whole body recoiled with her hand snapping away from the forehead of her not daughter as though burned and her breaths came in short desperate pants. Todd's only reaction however was to frown deeply as his anger slipped past his mask of self control before his expression softened and sadness dominated his expression.

"I am sorry I failed you sister," he said. "I could not keep you safe all those years ago and now I have failed to save you once again."

"It does not matter brother, we both knew the risks of our actions," she replied. "I am glad you survived though. I…I just wish I could see you with my own eyes. Tell me, are you well?"

"I am sister, better than I have been since before that dark day when we first encountered the Lanteans."

"And what of mother, how has she fared?"

"I'll let her answer that question."

Taking the hint Echidna hesitantly placed her hand back against her not daughter's temple and re-established the telepathic link. She was far too shaken by the sheer sadness and terror she had felt from her daughter to merge her mind with Todd's again so for now they would speak with separate voices.

"I am well Eurielle. Thanks to you I was able to hide and remain hidden for all these years until your sisters could be vanquished."

A wave of delight surged across the link.

"They are truly gone?"

"They are sister, and they suffered a fate I am sure you would approve of," said Todd as Echidna sent her memories to her. In a flash Eurielle saw the battle against the twin's fleet from her mother's perspective, their subsequent capture and how they became the foundation for the new Wraith Empire.

Eurielle was ecstatic.

"It is about time they got what was coming to them," she said.

"Thanks to the help of your brother's allies we were able to change the image they created of what it means to be Wraith," Echidna assured her. "We need to feed no more."

"The hunger is gone?" Eurielle asked hopefully.

"Our allies found a way to purge of us of that accursed organ in our hands," explained Todd. "We now eat regular food like our mother once did."

"You have made good friends in my absence brother," Eurielle said warmly. "I wish I could be there to experience it with you."

Echidna wilted under her daughter's sadness.

"I will find you sister," Todd stated adamantly. "We will find you. Of that you can be certain."

"Thank you brother."

"Please sister, tell us. What happened to you?" asked Todd.

"You remember that battle brother? Where my ship lost power and plummeted to the planet's surface?"

Todd shuddered.

He remembered all too well. They had both been there that day when they attacked one of the most heavily defended worlds their enemy had possessed short of Atlantis. That short slice of the battle had been seared into his memory. Two mighty fleets of ships clashed together in the space above the planet while jumpers and darts streaked through the atmosphere and debris from above plummeted to the surface. Aurora doubles and smaller cruisers pounded hive ships and cruisers with energy blasts while launching wave after wave of drone weapons that tore through bio armour like it was tissue paper. In retaliation hives and cruisers pounded away at the enemy's advanced shields with a relentless bombardment of energy blasts. From an incredible distance away multiple green beams of pure energy sniped away at Wraith vessels with weapons mounted on defence satellites while Wraith vessels hurriedly moved into range to attack them. Then momentarily the battle had stalled as the ships of the Ancient fleet stopped launching drones and for a few precious seconds the Wraith gained the advantage. Todd had hoped that meant the enemy had finally run out of the accursed weapons that laughed in the face of shields, or at the very least they were running low and had been ordered to conserve them. It was not to be however as pillars of yellow light sprung from the surface to come together in a single shifting pillar rising into orbit. Like a living creature the swarm plunged through the heart of the mass of fighting ships as smaller tendrils split off to pierce through the hull of Wraith vessels as it passed. Seeing the mass of yellow death coming his way Todd had hastily moved his vessel away from the battle and had ordered Eurielle to do the same. Then he had watched in horror as her hive had been engulfed by the swarm, and when it passed her ship was scorched and pitted with holes but still relatively intact despite having both side pods ripped off. Wounded and dying the ship lost power and succumbed to the pull of the planet's gravity, nose diving through the planet's atmosphere before making a spine splitting crash landing into the ocean. The battle had been lost but his sister was the only casualty he cared about.

"I remember Eurielle," he replied.

"You thought me lost but I was fortunate enough to survive. I awoke a captive of our enemy. They did not know it but I could hear them talking amongst themselves, about a plan for the future in case the war faired badly. They were afraid that with the loss of so many worlds recently their chances of victory were diminishing."

Todd consciously suppressed a growl. While he and Eurielle had been risking their lives on a fruitless endeavour his sisters had been leading a very successful sneak attack against multiple currently lightly defended worlds while the enemy forces had been pre-occupied repelling his and Eurielle's assault. In the battles that followed the rest of his siblings had 'heroically' fallen to the enemy while the traitorous twins defied death and continued to endure, eventually leading them to victory after victory until only _Atlantis_ had remained.

Sensing his frustration Eurielle added, "I am not a fool brother. I knew what our sisters had planned for us. My only hope was that they would not find mother and might one day meet a similar fate. Do not feel bad that you could not save me or the others. You tried your best."

"I never could hide anything from you Eurielle," said Todd.

"No you could not," she replied. "As I was saying I expected to be experimented on but instead I was placed in a stasis pod and left alone. When I next awoke I found myself surrounded by humans and looking into the eyes of a man I would come to loath over time."

"Zarin," Echidna spat.

"Yes," said Eurielle, her thoughts etched with contempt. "He took me from my resting place and used my flesh for his twisted experiments. His scientists learned how to create copies of me in a test tube and fed them to me whenever I felt hunger. Over time they were able to mix my DNA with that of humans to create a slave race of hybrids they called reapers. They used my mind as a telepathic control hub to maintain a leash over the reaper's actions. Eventually they even learned how to infuse my doubles and the reapers with cybernetic technology to extend the range of my control over the reapers. He even used the life force of those he fed to achieve a type of immortality."

"I am sorry Eurielle," said Todd, not being able to think of what else to say.

"We…we will find you my daughter," stated Echidna through the horror. "I promise you."

"I know you will mother but you should know…" Eurielle said before suddenly stopping.

"Eurielle, what is wrong?" Todd asked urgently. "Eurielle speak to me!"

"They've discovered the connection," she said, panicked. "They know my double is alive and are trying to block me. I am fighting them but I cannot block them for long. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Her piercing scream reverberated across the connection and nearly broke the two Wraith's concentration.

"Eurielle!" the two of them shouted back.

"Please, I beg of you be careful," she pleaded, the connection getting weaker with every second that passed. "Zarin, he has been planning this for centuries. He has an army that he has been building for what seems like forever to me. I could not begin to count the number of queen minds I constantly monitor and they in turn control entire hordes of reapers on countless vessels."

Her words spilled out in a rush as she struggled to convey her message before time ran out.

"We will find you sister and make Zarin pay," said Todd firmly. "I swear it."

"Thank you brother but please stop him," pleaded Eurielle.

"We will my daughter we will," Echidna assured her.

"Thank you," she said, her voice now trembling from the effort of maintaining the connection. "Mother, brother and father I know you are there too, I love you all…farewell."

With one last cry of pain from Eurielle the telepathic connection was severed.

Todd and Echidna, who unknown to Eurielle had been fighting to keep the connection intact from their end as well, collapsed to the floor from the psychic backlash as the link was suddenly severed.

The grief that had been threatening to overwhelm her was set free and Echidna was reduced to tears. Todd meanwhile had gone very very still. Typhoeus moved forwards to kneel beside Echidna, once again trying to settle her storm filled mind with the calm of his own but with only limited success. The others just stood around them all with solemn looks on their faces, none of them willing to break the silence.

With a glance from Sovaer the scientists in the room, that had stopped what they were doing to listen to the conversation, quietly gathered their things and left the hatchery.

Sheppard kneeled beside the Wraith Matriarch when the last of her tears had fallen.

"I know you don't want to hear anything from me right now but I'm going to say this anyway," he said. "We're going to find her and make that bastard pay for what he's done."

The others nodded, pledging their support to the mutual goal.

Echidna looked up at him and for the first in what seemed like forever a weak smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you," she said, between sobs. "Thank you all."

Sheppard nodded to her before standing to his feet and started barking out orders.

"Rodney I want you to work with Todd and figure out where that signal was broadcasting to. It's linked to all of this tech so see what you can do. Doc and Eir, I need you to do what you can for the doppelganger here. Make her comfortable and get her healthy again, clone or not she deserves our help. Sovaer, you and the rest of the SPECTRE's are going to be busy eventually so I want you to get up to speed with the latest gear we've issued you all. Oh and one more thing, ISIS?"

"Yes Commander?" said ISIS, appearing in holographic form next to him.

"Tell each member of the science staff onboard to prepare a report on all the technology on this ship by the end of the day," he ordered. "I want you to compile them together and have an overview ready for me."

"I'll make sure you all get a copy of it," he added, speaking to the rest of the gathered allies.

The assembled members of each race didn't say a word and just nodded and set to work. Todd and McKay started tapping away at consoles, trying to isolate the frequency used to link the queens together and trace it back to Eurielle. Beckett and Eir conversed about how best to remove the neural implants so that they could get her out of the chamber and into a proper medical facility. Echidna stormed out of the hatchery with Typhoeus gliding behind her on the way to the hanger bay where her transport was located. Sovaer followed Jakose out to escort him back to his transport, conveniently located in a different hanger bay to Echidna's, with the rest of SPECTRE's in tow.

In the city below a team of engineers were attempting to decompile the data that they had finally been able to download from Sovaer's data chip now that he was able to help them access it. Unfortunately an unpredicted side effect of the black virus interacting with his avatar was that the downloaded data had also fallen prey to its effect. It was proving tricky, since raw data had proven to be incredibly more susceptible to the virus than general subroutines, but with some of the greatest minds of three galaxies working on it progress was being made.

* * *

**_O'Neill_**

Aboard the Asgard warship Thor was receiving reports from across the whole of Pegasus. When the meeting with the Coalition, and the private one with Larrin, had concluded Woolsey had immediately put in a call to the Supreme Commander informing him that they had a go ahead for their plans. Using his considerable influence Thor had arranged for the fourteen Genii worlds to be visited by an equal number of science ships. With a ship now in orbit of each world and performing a detailed scan, the results of which were being transmitted over subspace to the Asgard flagship for analysis.

The console he was working on gave a beep, that had nothing to do with the data stream, and Thor casually moved a control stone while keeping his attention fixed on the lines of information in front of him. In a flash of light Richard Woolsey appeared next to him.

"Mister Woolsey," said Thor, inclining his head in greeting.

"Supreme Commander," said Woolsey in return, before directing his attention to the data. "I take it your ships are all in position?"

"They are," confirmed Thor. "Each science vessel is currently performing scans of the planetary infrastructure as well as a full biosphere analysis."

"I hope there aren't any dangerous germs in the atmosphere of any of these planets," said Woolsey.

"So far the scans reveal a minor bacterial presence on all worlds," said Thor. "All of which have been noted before on many other Pegasus worlds and should not pose a problem given the regular travel between Coalition worlds."

"We already have vaccines for a majority of the more harmful illnesses we have encountered over the years," said Woolsey. "Our combined medical knowledge should be able to provide an effective treatment for any that might crop up."

"Indeed," said Thor. "However even if we discount that potential danger, and the possible harm that can be caused by normal weather occurrences, there is one problem that we cannot ignore."

"Let me guess," said Woolsey. "The standing infrastructure of the Genii's former habitats."

"Correct," said Thor. "Our scans show that the Genii have made a reclamation effort on these worlds already, as shown by the life sign readings clustered together."

"It makes sense that they would take the best for themselves since they don't have the same level of technology that even Earth has at the moment to perform repairs," said Woolsey.

"That is true," said Thor. "Advanced technologies aside however the current scans show that while these worlds have been developed to the point that they would be capable of holding the current Coalition population they do not meet the current standards needed."

"Please explain," requested Woolsey.

Thor repositioned a control stone and a three dimensional holographic image of one of the Genii worlds appeared in front of the pair, replacing the image of scrolling data.

"This is a world designated as M1G-175" said Thor.

Repositioning another stone the image changed to show a cityscape that had been largely turned to rubble, most likely as a result of orbital fire, and looked a lot like Sateda but in much better condition. There were very few buildings above three stories high but they looked fairly well built, if weathered over time.

"According to our scans this world is in the best condition of all the candidates in terms of existing infrastructure."

"It looks to be in pretty good condition," observed Woolsey.

"Looks can be deceiving," said Thor with a noticeable frown.

The image changed again and became ghostly, showing the underground power lines and various piping. The majority, if not all, of the piping and power lines were flashing red or yellow with only a few green.

"As you can probably tell the majority of the sewage and water piping has been compromised as a result of blockages and fractures," said Thor. "There are also numerous breaks in the subterranean power lines as a result of erosion and collapses."

"Certainly troubling," said Woolsey. "Can they be repaired?"

"It would take time but it can be done with our technology," said Thor. "However that is not the only problem."

Woolsey sighed.

"I'm listening," he said.

"As you know these worlds have been abandoned for several millennia," said Thor. "The subterranean infrastructure is, I am afraid, the tip of the iceberg as you humans say. The actual surface structures are incredibly eroded themselves. By our predictions a number have become dilapidated and are uninhabitable. There are also many that are in danger of collapse without support to the superstructure."

Woolsey's eyes widened as he took all this in.

"This is the best of the worlds?" he asked. "How are the Genii able to reclaim it?"

"The Genii have laid claim to the best buildings on each of these worlds and are presumably planning on repairing the others as the populations increase," explained Thor.

"So can we perform the repairs necessary to make them habitable for the entire Coalition population?" asked Woolsey.

"Given time yes," said Thor. "However I am not going to recommend it."

Woolsey gave the Asgard a look, inviting him to continue.

"To make any one of these worlds habitable and self sustaining once again would require nothing short of a complete demolition of the existing buildings and rebuilding the settlement from the ground up," explained Thor. "This is not something the Asgard High Council will be willing to commit to if after the war is over the world would solely benefit a race we are not allied with."

"I understand," said Woolsey before pausing to think.

"How is construction on Concordia progressing?" he eventually asked.

"Construction is on schedule and will be completed soon," said Thor. "Have the Travellers accepted our offer?"

"Larrin has taken it to their ruling council," answered Woolsey. "She will have an answer eventually but I believe she will say yes."

"So what do you plan to tell the Coalition?" asked Thor.

"You mean what do we plan to tell the Coalition," countered Woolsey.

Thor gave him a look. "Explain."

"When we first came back to this galaxy we needed to show the Coalition just what we offered to this galaxy," explained Woolsey. "To do this we took the entire council with us to see little demonstration of the capabilities of one of our battlecruisers."

"You propose to do the same thing here," surmised Thor.

"It's hard to pass up on something so tempting when it's sitting right under your nose," pointed out Woolsey.

"You make a good point," admitted Thor. "We shall use your plan then."

"I'll arrange another meeting," said Woolsey.

It had only been three days since the last meeting so no doubt he would be looking at a round of grumbling as a result.

* * *

**Keltona**

The Coalition representatives had assembled for this second emergency meeting in three days in record time. It seemed they had all learned the importance of making a prompt appearance when a race fighting for your freedom calls on you to show up.

All them were now seated around the circular council table and had noticed that the chairs had been shifted slightly so that there was a gap large enough to fit another seat. The strange thing was though that there wasn't another seat in place and the space had been left unoccupied.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," began Woolsey.

"I think we all realized the need for promptness after the last emergency meeting you called," said Shiana smoothly.

"Yes well, thank you," said Woolsey, ignoring the subtle jab. "I have asked you all here in order to present a report on our efforts to find a sanctuary world should one be required."

"Mister Woolsey," said Dimas. "It has only been three days since your proposition. That is hardly much time for you to have conducted a survey."

"On the contrary," Woolsey countered. "The survey of the Genii worlds has already been completed."

"How?" asked Ladon.

"Using ships and advanced sensors," answered Woolsey.

"We didn't detect any of your ships in orbit," argued Ladon.

"You wouldn't have," countered Woolsey. "And they weren't our ships."

"Whose were they?" asked Harmony, wisely cutting in to avoid another argument.

"Good question," replied Woolsey, with a small smile.

In a flash of light the gap at the table was suddenly filled.

"Greetings," said Thor, with a small smile of his own at the surprised look of the Coalition members at seeing his species in person for the first time.

Instead of saying anything further he chose to simply sit back and relax in his control throne. The throne had been enlarged to match his enlarged height and was now the standard size for all models.

"Hello," said Harmony, fascinated by the alien in front of her. "You must be a member of the Asgard we have heard about."

"Indeed, I am Thor."

"The Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet?" Ladon asked.

"I see you have heard of me," Thor said.

"What is your purpose for being here?" Dimas asked, overcoming his initial surprise.

"I am here to provide you with the survey report on the viability of the Genii worlds to act as a suitable sanctuary," Thor replied smoothly.

"It was your ships that visited my people's worlds without our knowledge," Ladon realised.

"It was," Thor confirmed.

"Which world would you like to use?" Ladon asked, rather presumptuously as it would turn out.

"Concordia," Thor replied.

Ladon frowned. "I am not familiar with the name but it might be a name we have forgotten."

"It is not one of your worlds," Thor replied.

"I…We believed that the plan was to utilise the standing infrastructure on one of my people's worlds," countered Ladon.

"That was the original plan," said Woolsey. "However we have since determined that that is not a viable option."

"Why not?" Ladon asked.

"Our scans indicate that your worlds lack the capability to support such a large population without significant repair work and upgrades," Thor replied.

"Again, I thought that was the original plan," Ladon argued.

Thor shook his head. "The original plan was to only perform minor repair work to bring a world up to a suitable standard. Our scans reveal however that several millennia of decay have resulted in dilapidation to the point that we would need to completely rebuild the majority of the infrastructure to make one of your worlds habitable. The Asgard High Council is not willing to invest the time and resources necessary for such a task. Especially if after the war that world will only benefit one race."

"Then what world do you suggest as an alternative?" asked Shiana.

"As I said before Concordia," Thor answered.

The Coalition members shared blank looks at the unfamiliar name, except for Larrin and Woolsey.

"None of us are familiar with that world," said Dimas.

"That is also part of the reason for my presence here," Thor explained. "I am going to take you on my ship to Concordia so that you can see it for yourself."

"How long would that take?" Harmony asked.

"About a minute," Thor answered. "My ship, the _O'Neill_, is very fast."

"Very well then," said Dimas. "You may take us to this world."

In a flash of light the entire Coalition council, along with the table and chairs, vanished.

* * *

**Concordia**

In orbit of this green paradise a hyperspace window opened and deposited the _O'Neill_ back into normal space. From an observation area the Coalition representatives watched in awe as the powerful Asgard vessel emerged in open space before plunging into the atmosphere. As the warship came to a gentle rest barely ten thousand feet above the surface, shimmering in the afternoon sun, the lands below were clear for all to see.

As far as the eye could see were rich green lands covered by a blanket of trees and a web of clear blue rivers. Unbeknownst to the onlookers the entire land had been terra formed to turn this world into a veritable Eden. Floating gently above the surface was the Asgard Beliskner fleet, with their transport arrays powered and at work constructing the buildings that dotted the surface.

The Beliskners were spread out from a single central structure slowly constructing ziggurat like structures that bore a striking resemblance to the Timelinks ziggurat design. The central ziggurat though was very different to the others, with the pointy central spire replaced by a towering skyscraper that reached up into the heavens and would no doubt offer a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape and the ziggurat structure itself enlarged in size. Around this central structure, located at compass points, were four large lakes each capable of comfortably supporting a city ship on its surface. There were no roads linking the structures together that might taint the natural beauty, only green land and rivers.

"It's beautiful," Harmony said gently.

"That it is," agreed Woolsey.

"This is to be our sanctuary?" asked Shiana.

"That was not the original purpose," answered Thor. "However I have given instructions for the construction to be expanded to house your peoples. The ninety smaller ziggurats you now see being constructed will be able to comfortably hold a million people each."

The Coalition representatives took a moment to take that fact in. A million people housed in an area no bigger than two and a half square kilometres was not something that they found easy to imagine, even if the structure was standing right in front of them.

"What about that larger one?" Ladon eventually asked, pointing to the central ziggurat. "What is its purpose?"

"That will be the headquarters of the Alliance of Great Races," said Thor proudly. "Your peoples will have free roam of the other structures but will be denied access to that one."

"Who are the members of this Alliance?" Dimas asked.

"The Asgard, Tau'ri, Nox, Jaffa, Wraith, Averians, Liberum and the Hebridians," Thor answered curtly.

"And the Travellers," Larrin added casually and to the surprise of everyone except Woolsey and Thor, who resisted the urge to chuckle in amusement.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	53. Alliance Reforged

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Shiana is a complex individual. While she recognises that the Tau'ri are trying to help she, like many others, resent the damage their mistakes have caused. I personally don't blame her for holding a grudge for the loss of her people. I sometimes think i'm being a little mean towards Echidna, her life can really suck at times.**

**Cdoctor: Concordia is going to be one of the crown jewels of real estate in the Pegasus galaxy, i hope.**

**Oddliver: It won't end quickly that's for sure.**

**stormwolf3710: They're going to utilise that ship to its fullest. The secrets that can be gleamed are immense.**

**Naginator: It's all explained in this chapter but i assure you it is possible, quite easily in fact.**

**Shane: I intend to.**

* * *

**Concordia**

The Coalition representatives stood there stunned by the revelation Larrin had delivered.

"The Travellers and the Tau'ri will be a part of this Alliance?" Ladon eventually managed to ask.

"The Travellers were recently invited to join but had yet to give an answer," Woolsey replied.

"The Tau'ri as the fifth race however have been a member of the Alliance from the beginning," added Thor. "The Alliance has since been reformed to include other races that have risen since its initial conception."

"What was its original form?" asked Dimas.

"The Alliance of Four Great Races was formed by the Asgard, the Nox, the Furlings and the Ancients," Thor said. "The Furlings have since moved on from this area of space never to be heard from again and the Ancients chose to ascend. I believe you call them the ancestors."

"You were once allied with the Ancestors?" Harmony asked in awe.

"We technically still are," said Thor. "Should the Ancients choose to return to this plain of existence they will still be our allies and should they require it receive our assistance."

"And now you consider the Tau'ri to worthy of joining such an Alliance," Shiana stated, slightly coldly.

Thor fixed her with a cool stare.

"The Tau'ri have liberated four galaxies, including this one, from oppression," Thor replied to the unasked question. "They have earned their place in this Alliance and are even now fighting for your sakes to keep you free despite the fact that it is of no benefit to them. If that does not make them worthy of being called a great race then nothing will."

Shiana crumbled under the intensity of the Asgards gaze.

"How would one go about joining this Alliance?" asked Kelore, causing Ladon to raise an eyebrow at the question.

"You need to be asked to join," Thor replied coolly.

The meaning there was quite clear, they had not been asked thus they would be allowed to join.

"We are only here fighting this war because of this Alliance," Thor continued. "That and because the Tau'ri requested our aid before the Alliances reformation. If it was not for them calling for our help to protect you all and for the new Alliance then we would not even be here."

"We have much to be thankful to the Tau'ri for," said Harmony.

"You do indeed," said Thor, giving her a small smile before turning back to look at the view.

Concordia was going to be the crown jewel of the allied races combined efforts. Built using designs of the new Alliances three founding members, the Asgard, the Tau'ri and the Nox, the world would be a veritable paradise.

The arcologies had been based on the acquired Timelinks ziggurat design and had been heavily modified to utilise advanced technology. What had originally been open air between the various levels was now an open air garden with a large lake and a waterfall falling from above out of the central spire. The overall effect was that each platform could now be compared to the garden of Versailles, with the Nox providing the plants and trees. Internally the design of the ziggurats had been greatly changed. The living quarters featured food synthesisers to provide the inhabitants with as much food as they would ever want. The internal transport system had been replaced by a transport booth system since modified to include a pair of booths, one for outgoing and a second for incoming travellers. The central spire was packed with technology. There was a central computer core including an ISIS variant to monitor and interact with the inhabitants, neutrino ion generators to provide power for the whole structure and to power a shield emitter mounted at the tip of the spire that when combined with the others would cover a massive area hundreds of kilometres across.

The Alliance headquarters would also feature similar facilities as the other arcologies but the central tower would feature more administrative offices and conference rooms for the various members use. At the top of the tower would a single meeting chamber that would offer a complete three hundred and sixty degree view of the surrounding landscape.

Despite being a symbol of unity Concordia would be heavily protected against potential attack. In orbit of the planet were hundreds of Tau'ri designed satellites designed to provide both defence and offensive capabilities against any attackers, not including any ships from the Alliance races that might be in orbit. There were three different versions around the planet; a shield emitter version, the weapon version identical to those guarding the supergate and a deep space sensor version like those now around the protected planets in the Milky Way. On the surface there were also numerous Grodin and ICT emplacements disguised amongst the natural flora as rocks and trees using hologram technology. The surface mounts, like the orbital defences, were all wirelessly controlled by the central control system in the Alliance headquarters but were powered by a subterranean power grid that was in turn connected to every other structure. It was a safety feature so that if any of the generators in the individual arcologies failed there would be another on hand to immediately pick up the slack.

The peoples of the Coalition would be sheltered by this advanced technology not knowing it was even there to protect them should it ever be needed. All the while they would be surrounded by the beauty and luxury that this world had to offer. It was a shame that they would only get to live here as long as the rest of the galaxy was engulfed by the horrors of war.

"This world seems like a paradise," said Harmony. "It is a shame we will only live here while our lives are in danger should we remain on our own worlds."

"What would we do here?" asked Shiana. "How would we fill our time?"

"We have built in an artificial intelligence into each of the arcologies to provide you all with educational lessons to improve your knowledge base," said Woolsey. "Consider it a gift."

"Would everyone be welcome in these lessons?" asked Ladon.

"Young or old it does not matter," said Woolsey. "We will try to provide you all with a basic education and then move on to provide you with knowledge that you can make use of when you return to your worlds."

"You are being very generous," said Kelore. "What would you expect in return?"

"We have a condition for your use of this world during the war," said Thor.

"What is that condition?" Dimas asked.

"In exchange a vessel like the ones you see here will spend one day on each of your worlds upgrading your infrastructure," explained Thor. "For this we want you to commit a certain level of manpower to an organisation similar to the Tau'ri Peace Corps."

"What are the Peace Corps?" Shiana asked.

"They are a good will organisation that provides humanitarian aid to those in need for free," explained Woolsey.

"How much manpower would be required?" Ladon asked.

"That is entirely up to you," said Woolsey. "You can contribute as much as you want."

Woolsey knew exactly how to play the Genii. By not setting an upper limit they would be free to provide as much manpower as they wanted and knowing the Genii they would try to provide as much as they could in order to promote the image of them being a kind and benevolent race.

"This is still very generous," noted Kelore.

"We want to try to help your people so that you will not have to rely solely on outside sources," Woolsey explained. "The basic improvements in agriculture and clean living will increase your people's life expectancy and lower the mortality rate. You can then use the lessons we provide to improve your lives even further. It is better to let people learn to help themselves rather than constantly help them."

"When do you want us to move to this world?" Ladon asked.

"Ideally as soon as possible," said Thor. "My people have vessels capable of carrying you all here within minutes from all across the galaxy. The Genii however offer more of a problem since they have a very large population on their world."

"Can we not use the stargate?" Ladon asked.

"We would prefer if you didn't since we want to keep this world hidden," explained Thor. "The stargate address can be used to determine Concordia's location."

What wasn't mentioned was that the stargate on this planet was located in a secure bunker complex built beneath the central arcology. Transporting people through it meant that they would have to pass through the secure building above which they were trying to keep

"What do you propose then?"

"We will simply use a fleet of our ships to ferry your people here," said Thor. "It will require time and precise co-ordination but we can do it."

"Thank you," Ladon said gratefully.

"Don't thank us," said Thor. "Thank the Tau'ri for worrying about your safety enough to push this agenda."

Woolsey resisted the urge to chuckle at the expressions on certain peoples faces. It wasn't every day that a race capable of either wiping out or advancing the Coalition several hundred years overnight laid down the facts of the matter and told them to be grateful for the presence of a bunch of outsiders.

A round of thank you from each of the members followed.

"Attendance on this world will of course be voluntary," continued Thor. "However I must point out that it will mean we will not be able to defend any worlds that refuse to allow us to help them."

The representatives seemed shocked by the harshness of this statement.

"You would refuse to protect worlds that will not dance to your tune?" spluttered a shocked Shiana.

"We only have so many ships, so many people, to fight a war that could engulf this entire galaxy if we do not focus our forces in one area," Thor stated factually. "If we are to defend even this world properly then we cannot have our forces stretched thin because of a few isolated worlds that require our protection. There is no point is trying to protect those who would turn down the best protection possible for them or a chance at a better future by accepting what we offer."

"Supreme Commander," Ladon began slowly after a little while. "My people have a sizeable army of our own. We would be willing to help fight this war. Call it pride if you will but the Genii people will not want to sit by and leave our fate in the hands of others when we can do something to decide our future."

"That is an understandable wish," said Thor. "The Alliance will require all information on your force numbers, composition and equipment before we decide how best to use them."

"I would of course like a say in how my forces are used," said Ladon.

"Again understandable," said Thor. "However your people lack the experience in combat on this scale that our own people possess and you yourself are a scientist not a military leader. You must be prepared to release command to those with more experience in these matters."

Ladon nodded in understanding. The Genii had not prosecuted an actual war in a very long time and a war was very different from small scale combat actions.

"There are many who will not be happy with such a decision," he pointed out.

"We are not asking all your military leaders to relinquish complete control," replied Thor. "They have demonstrated that they are capable of commanding their individual units with efficiency, they are just not as experienced at fighting on a galactic level."

"You make a good point," Ladon admitted.

The group just stood there for a little while, admiring the scenery. A few kilometres away a lone Beliskner was tirelessly working on completing a new arcology. Before their eyes the final point on the spire was slowly finished and the transport array on the nose of the ship shut down as the work was completed. The Beliskner slowly pulled away to a new patch of land where it once again began construction on a new arcology. In the distance they could see several other craft move across the skies, repositioning as their own tasks were finished and they moved on to the next construction area.

Slowly, but surely, the world that would act as the sanctuary for the peoples of Pegasus was taking shape right before their very eyes.

* * *

**Pegasus Galaxy Supergate**

A massive and shimmering metallic ring, the supergate sat silent and still in the depths of space. Around it floated numerous defence satellites, operating at low power but nevertheless active and boasting considerable firepower that could be turned on anyone approaching the supergate or emerging from it. In front of it and a good distance away sat a single Tau'ri space station, acting as the control centre for the supergate and its defences.

The formerly silent supergate started to crackle with energy as power received from an incoming wormhole. As the wave of blue energy surged inwards the event horizon took shape and the wormhole formed with a familiar geyser of shimmering blue. With the supergate now active the defence satellites automatically came out of standby mode and went to full power, ready to target any vessels that might emerge.

In a sight not seen for several years, and in another galaxy, four Liberum warships emerged from the event horizon of the now active supergate and took up position in front of it, awaiting instructions. Though not apparent from a cursory glance these ships had greatly changed since the last time they saw combat, and not just in their associated names. The barrier style shields that the original Ori designed warships possessed had been removed and by filling a single room on each level with energy capacitors they were able to install a regular shield five sixths that of a Pegasus class vessel. Admittedly this made them more vulnerable to weaker weapons, which if used on mass would eventually deplete the shield, but the advantage was that the beam weapons several races possessed would not automatically penetrate them and destroy the entire ship in just a few shots.

The defence satellites, which had repositioned to target anything emerging from the event horizon the moment the supergate became active, went from their active mode to standby mode once the supergate shut down.

The control room on the space station had become alive with activity the moment the supergate became active.

"Supergate active. Incoming traveller."

"Defence satellites are online and in position."

"Contacts emerging from the event horizon. Confirm four Liberum warships."

"Receiving IFF. Confirm Liberum warships."

"Wormhole disengaging."

"Defence satellites standing down."

Had the IFF come back as foe and not friend the satellites would have opened fire before the second ship had even appeared.

"Transmitting data package to Liberum flagship. Receipt acknowledged.

"Liberum warships entering hyperspace."

Upon receipt of the data package the four ships had immediately departed for the co-ordinates included.

* * *

**Concordia**

In orbit of the Alliance headquarters sat a large fleet of ships alien to this galaxy but were soon about to become counted as regular participants of hyperspace traffic throughout this region of space. In a former life these ships were noted by their pyramid shape, hence the name Ha'tak or pyramid ship. These versions however were greatly detached from the translation, despite still possessing the same name, indicating a potential for a change of name. The twenty four ships in orbit barely resembled the type A frame from which they had been upgraded. The gaps between the superstructure and the central pyramid were gone, having been covered over with additional superstructure armour and the insides filled with technology. On the top and bottom of the superstructure and each of the three sides was a single plasma cannon twice the size of the other four around it. Externally all twenty four ships seemed to be identical however if one were to look beneath the surface and at the interior the difference between the two types would quickly become apparent. The first type, and making up two thirds of the fleet, was the typical Jaffa designed type C, nicknamed the carrier type by the Tau'ri. The other eight ships were all type D's, a Tau'ri designed variant nicknamed dreadnoughts, and they represented a paradigm shift in the overall internal design. Gone were the oversized corridors, large cargo rooms, luxury quarters and all the glamorous decorations. The insides had been completely revamped to be more militarised and less inclined towards transport of goods and personnel. All these reductions meant that an additional primary generator had been added along with extra capacitors giving it double the shield strength of a type C, as well as a fifty percent increase in speed.

These vessels were not in fact Jaffa owned, but they would be soon enough. When the Tau'ri had carried out the joint operation with the Jaffa to neutralise the threat the Lucian Alliance posed to the galaxy at large they had been able to capture a number of Ha'tak that either surrendered or were disabled in the conflict. With the use of industrial beams twenty four of these vessels had been upgraded to form the fleet now present. They were being given to the Jaffa as a gift, along with the design plans for the type D's, for them to use during the conflict with the Zarasians. The Jaffa could have used their own ships in the conflict but they were quite weak when compared with most other races ships. It was hoped that the Jaffa would adopt the type D design as standard and produce more of them to use in both Pegasus and Milky Way. With the extra space allotted from filling up the superstructure and then re-organizing the interior they could technically hold the same number of troops if not as much in the way of supplies.

Even now a contingent of Jaffa were bringing their equipment aboard, being transferred via Midway through the stargate that was systematically being moved from ship to ship by the _Weir_. These warriors were equipped with the latest in Jaffa weaponry and equipment. The hangers had been filled with needle threaders, tel'tac's and al'kesh. The troops had been decked out in the latest full body armour and armed with plasma rifles, plasma blasters and plasma storm cannons. The Jaffa had brought thirty six thousand soldiers to this galaxy and they were ready for war.

* * *

Meeting the first Jaffa contingent to arrive via Midway was Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay, aboard the new Jaffa fleet flagship. The first to arrive were some of the most prestigious members of the Jaffa society, made famous by their efforts to lead the Jaffa people to freedom and to establish a stable, strong society that would last for millennia to come. From the event horizon of the active stargate stepped Bra'tac, Teal'c and Ishta.

Sheppard watched as the three of them looked around at the vastly remodelled interior that was now standard for the type D design before approaching them.

"Welcome to the Pegasus galaxy," Sheppard said warmly.

"Colonel Sheppard I presume," said Bra'tac. "Teal'c has told me much about you and O'Neill speaks very highly of you."

"Always nice to know the man in the big chair appreciates you," Sheppard replied. "You're something of legend yourself Master Bra'tac."

"And who might you be?" he asked Ishta with a charming smile.

"Ish'ta," she replied warmly, while subtly moving to stand nearer to Teal'c.

"Ah, the famous leader of the Hak'tyl," said Sheppard, noting the way the two Jaffa seemed so comfortable with such closeness.

"The very same," said Teal'c.

"I see this is not a typical Ha'tak," said Bra'tac. "Might this be one of the type D designs you are gifting us with?"

"We're calling it the destroyer type," said McKay. "Unlike the more carrier style ships you have designed this version possesses a more refined interior design which allows space for an extra primary generator and capacitors for shields. If it came down to a fight this version could easily take down a carrier."

"Hmm," said Bra'tac thoughtfully. "Carrier type and destroyer type, the designations certainly seem appropriate. How much stronger is this vessel compared to the carriers?"

"Well we incorporated the upgrades designed for the carrier into the overall design," explained McKay. "Weapons wise it pretty much remains the same since your ships don't really lack much in the way of firepower, so we focused entirely on the one area you are lacking which is shield strength. The destroyers possess twice the shield strength of the carriers as standard but you have the option of sacrificing shield strength for a little more firepower."

With the ability to reroute power as was necessary they could theoretically have two of the three arcs firing at one target and at double the normal rate. This was a lot of firepower for a ship that utilised relatively less advanced technology.

"The design is in the hands of our engineers already?" Bra'tac asked Teal'c.

"They are merely waiting your approval to implement it," Teal'c replied.

"Tell them they have it," said Bra'tac. "Have all of our engineers work on a single destroyer version so that they know the design inside and out before we go into mass production."

"I will see to it," said Teal'c. "What is the troop capacity of this vessel?"

"It's the same as the type C's, fifteen hundred," said McKay. "The only real difference is that your carriers have a lot more space for cargo while the destroyers use the bare minimum."

"The ratio for this current fleet was two to one in favour of carriers to allow our approval and sufficient storage capabilities," Bra'tac mused. "Teal'c what do you recommend for the ratio for our future builds?"

"Ideally I would like a two to one ratio in favour of these destroyer variants," Teal'c replied. "For their size they would appear to be more powerful than even the various flagships the Goa'uld have been known to build."

"See to it," Bra'tac ordered. "Also have the designs studied thoroughly and the techniques analysed for other applications."

At certain points in their history the Goa'uld had been known to build a flagship of a much grander nature than in a typical Ha'tak in terms of both power and size. Only two kinds had been encountered in recent years, built by Anubis and Sokar respectively. There were several reasons for this. It wasn't just a simple display of power but a realistic security measure. If a system lord was to enter the fray then their ship was the most likely to be targeted, by both the enemy and any potentially traitorous underlings looking for an opportunistic promotion. As it stood the Free Jaffa Nation had yet to actually build a single flagship style vessel but there were plans underway. If they were to incorporate the designs utilised in the destroyers a flagship could become even more powerful. Unfortunately if they were to complete such a build project in any reasonable amount of time then they would need help from their allies. A regular Ha'tak took about a year to complete in a shipyard that had access to a large amount of man power and didn't need to be concealed so a flagship would take much longer. Of course since a Ha'tak could only just about fit through a supergate it would need a tow to make it to this galaxy and then another tow to get back again, which meant the Jaffa would be reliant on their allies for aid in this matter.

"If you are looking at improving the design further my recommendation would be to focus on your power generators," McKay suggested. "The base line technology you use is actually pretty decent but you lack the power generation capabilities to effectively utilise its potential. Your hyperdrives for instance are capable of incredible speeds but lack the power necessary to achieve high speeds. And of course if you have more power available you can have more weapons and be able to fire them."

"That was the recommendation of the Asgard as well," admitted Bra'tac. "However educating our people is a time consuming procedure and will require time."

"Not really much of a problem," said McKay. "You can always replace the old reactors and capacitors with more efficient versions as you develop them. It's what we did with our own ships."

"By the way I have to ask," said Sheppard. "Are you sure your people will be okay with you in another galaxy leading a war effort?"

Bra'tac sighed.

"I understand your concerns Colonel Sheppard and to be honest I shared them," Bra'tac admitted. "It was after much consideration that I realised that for the sake of my people I need to be here. The Jaffa are first and foremost a warrior race and many, me included, would consider it an insult to our people if we simply sat back and did nothing when our allies are fighting for such a noble cause."

"But that doesn't answer why you personally are here," Sheppard pointed out.

"There are three reasons," said Bra'tac. "The first being because I want to be here, fighting along side though I consider allies and friends. The second is because my people will follow a leader who is willing to fight battles himself and not simply send others to their death. And the third is the most important, because I need to know my people are strong enough to survive without constantly being watched over. I will still receive regular reports and perform administrative duties but my people need this time to test them and find any weaknesses that might need to be corrected."

"So you're basically giving them the chance to sink or swim," said Sheppard with raised eyebrows. "That is certainly gutsy."

"I wouldn't put it quite like that," said Bra'tac. "It is more of a test of their ability to do their jobs without constant supervision. I understand Tomin is doing the same."

"The Jaffa are a strong people who will rise to face this challenge," Ishta added confidently.

"Good point," Sheppard admitted to both of them.

Tomin was also testing his people by letting them become more self reliant than constantly looking to him for guidance. Admittedly this was much easier for the Liberians since they had been more used to freedom and self management but it was still a test nonetheless.

"Now how about a tour of this fine ship before all your soldiers arrive and start cluttering up the place," proposed Sheppard. "Why don't we start with the bridge and you can see just what this ship has to offer?"

"That would be very much appreciated," said Bra'tac.

Ishta casually joined arms with Teal'c and followed them out of the room.

* * *

It wasn't long before the Liberum warships emerged from hyperspace over Concordia and took up position along side the newly acquired Jaffa fleet. The last time these two races had met they had been fighting against one another in another galaxy, and now they were meeting as allies. From the flagship of each fleet a single representative ringed down to the headquarters building.

In a gathering room, on a central pedestal, lay the Alliance charter. The charter basically consisted to an agreement of non-aggression towards each member race and mutual defence. Admittedly it was a lot more complicated than that, by this was the basic idea behind it. So far the charter had been signed by the Tau'ri, the Wraith, the Averians, the Hebridians, the Asgard and most recently the Travellers. The only two that had yet to sign it were the Liberum and the Jaffa and they would do so today.

For this historic moment a single representative from each race would be called upon to sign the charter. From the Jaffa that representative was the current leader of the Free Jaffa Nation Bra'tac and from the Liberum was the current head of state Tomin.

As both leaders entered the room the two looked at each other with a calculating gaze, both studying the other. The two of them strode calmly into the room, eyes never leaving each other, to come to a gentle stop in front of the pedestal. As one they extended out an arm, clasped the outstretched hand of the other and shook it firmly. After some polite deferral the two of them signed the charter, to a round of applause, under the watchful eyes of other gathered representatives and became full members of the Alliance of Great Races.

"You know moments like these actually make me want to retake human form just to shake hands with a Wraith," admitted Janus, causing Oma and Morgan to roll their eyes.

"Sometimes Janus I really do wonder about you," Morgan said with a sigh.

"Being able to break bread with a once bitter enemy," continued an unperturbed Janus. "Two races so similar and yet so different coming together as allies and not enemies, it's a wonderful dream made reality."

"Just when I think you haven't learned anything," said Oma proudly. "You show a whole new side and surprise us all."

"I'll say," added Morgan with a smirk and earning a fleeting glare from Janus.

"Now now children," said Oma with a small and slightly cheeky smile. "Don't fight."

* * *

**_Weir_**

"Gentlemen," Sheppard said to Bra'tac and Tomin. "We need to discuss a few things."

Around the table sat the other representatives of the Alliance of great races, minus the Hebridians and the Nox, that were actively involved in the war effort. Joining the three of them was Larrin, Todd, Admiral Xander and Supreme Commander Thor. As an act of kindness Ladon was present so that he could at least have a say in how his forces were commanded.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	54. Battle Plans

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Concordia is the Alliance crown jewel, not to mention the Pegasus sanctuary, so they will do anything to protect it. Thank you for your kind words.**

**Cdoctor: I can't believe how long i left the ascended alone for, that's what happens when i get caught up in other aspects.**

**Oddliver: The coming chapter is where i set the bar for what the allies will have against this threat.**

**stormwolf3710: You're welcome.**

**Simaru Innovade: Updates come on this day, every week. Glad you like it.**

**Scourge75: The Zarin perspective will be explored in the very near future. For now though you'll just have to wait because this chapter is very important.**

**Osced: Its name has cropped up once or twice in the last few chapters. It was first mentioned when Larrin was given the invitation to join the Alliance.**

**romanhellhound: Wait no more, you'll get to find out now.**

**Just a Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**BIG Z1776: The Genii generally infiltrate populations and gather intelligence, in this case that isn't an option. The Zarasians have never even cropped up on the galactic map, not to mention the fact that a lot of the Genii holdings are about to be abandoned for now. While they offer a large potential ground force they don't offer what the other allies can. For now they are effectively sidelined until the allies go offensive.**

**stars90: One thing i have always tried to do is stay true to both the original storyline and the ideals the writers set down. I actively invite poeple to call me out if i should ever drastically change canonical fact to make things go my way. Harlan was an overlooked gem that i decided to put on display. The main staff cannons on Ha'taks were said to be 200 megatons per shot, the six enlarged ones i have placed on the new ships are twice as strong. **

* * *

**_Weir_**

"I presume the first topic is my change in appearance?" asked Tomin.

"Actually I was going to talk about the war effort and our personal roles," said Sheppard. "But now that you mention it I think we would all like to hear this story."

When they had last parted ways with Tomin all those years ago he had been a relatively young man who for all intents and purposes had been an ordinary human. When they had met him again he had still been a regular human and his only change had been the great weight he now bore on his shoulders but now though he was startlingly different. Though he retained his young face his hair was now a shiny silvery colour, his skin paler and on his trinium armour breast plate was a pale purple crystal similar to the one the Doci wore. He almost looked like a half transformed prior.

Tomin smiled.

"As you know a Prior is arguably just a regular human with an accelerated evolution," explained Tomin. "The aggressive transformation process does however come with some side effects, like the change of appearance from the forced change. We have found though that by only applying a small change over a long period the body does not suffer from the minds advancement and cannot be possessed by an ascended being."

"So you underwent this process?" asked Todd.

"Yes," said Tomin. "So that I might better co-ordinate and communicate with the forces under my command."

For a few brief moments silence reigned before Sheppard asked the question they were all asking.

"So what abilities do you have?"

Tomin chuckled. "I thought that would be the first question on your minds.

"To answer your question my personal powers are somewhat limited," he explained. "The crystals I and the prior possess create a link between us that allows us to boost our abilities by drawing on the strength of the others. Simply put we lend each other support."

"My personal abilities without assistance are the common ones that the rest of the Priors possess," he continued. "Limited telekinesis, pyrokinesis and healing are possible, but they are much stronger with support. Any other displays you have seen, like creating illnesses are not something any Prior can do any more. Not without the Ori using us as conduits for their abilities."

"Anything else?" Larrin asked almost jokingly.

"Actually yes," said Tomin, his expression becoming more serious. "But I will want this to be kept a secret for security reasons."

"Agreed," said Thor, with the others nodding their approval.

"The real reason that my body underwent such a change, despite being given time to adjust to the changes my mind underwent, is because the Doci gave me an additional ability," explained Tomin. "If necessary I can advance the evolution of other humans and turn them into Prior level beings, but I am not yet skilled enough to initiate the transformation slowly. It is not a simple matter of knowledge but learned ability and I cannot risk a slow transformation for fear of causing irreparable damage."

"You hope for all your people to someday possess these abilities?" Todd guessed.

"Yes," Tomin answered. "Until the process is proven to be completely safe though and we have determined the correct stages for the full transformation to a higher level we will only be limiting the usage. I was the first, which allows me to communicate with the Doci as well as receive reports on my people's progress and send instructions back."

"So can anyone receive these abilities?" asked Larrin.

"I am not sure," said Tomin truthfully. "Our physiology is different to yours, so the transformation process could have unexpected side effects."

"Sorry Larrin, no superpowers for you," said Sheppard with a cheeky grin.

"Or you Sheppard," Larrin shot back, with a grin of her own.

"Some of us already have superpowers," Todd pointed out, catching Thor's eye.

"Moving on," said Admiral Durra while concealing a small smile.

"We are here to discuss the tactical situation I believe," said Bra'tac.

"Yes we are," said Sheppard. "Now why don't we all come forward and present a list of our present forces before we move on to other things."

"The Asgard have at present twenty O'Neill class vessels and fifty Beliskners in the galaxy, along with a detachment of a hundred valkyries for troop actions," stated Thor. "We can however potentially call in more vessels and all of our people can be equipped with combat forms."

"What is the size of your total fleet if you don't mind me asking?" asked Xander. Xander had been placed in command of external fleet actions while Durra retained command of planetary defences.

"Two years ago we started with only the _Valhalla_, thirty O'Neill's, fifty Beliskners and twenty science vessels," said Thor. "Over the past two years we have built an additional thirty science vessels, twenty Beliskners and seventy O'Neill's."

There were quite a few whistles of admiration in response to that list. Asgard technology was powerful, very powerful in fact, and their warships were capable of taking on a fleet of most other races ships, Tau'ri included.

"I should point out however that my people have little in the way of dedicated ground forces apart from the valkyries," Thor added.

"The Tau'ri currently have twenty eight Deadalus class, fifty six Achilles class, twenty five Pegasus class, a single Nightingale class and ninety six Night Fury class vessels in the galaxy," said Sheppard. "We can potentially call upon another twenty Deadalus class and forty Achilles class vessels and thousands of soldiers if we need to. We also have some other vessels under construction but they won't be ready for another few weeks."

"I'll go next shall I?" asked Xander and when he received no objections he continued. "I have personal command of a hundred and fifty warships, ninety transports and my own flagship the _Aror_. Admiral Durra can potentially provide an additional fifty warships from his command of two hundred warships, one hundred twenty transports and his own flagship. There are also ten warships maintaining a constant presence over each of the major Wraith worlds. Troops wise our numbers are rather limited but each of our ships have a small security force as standard."

Though the Wraith domain had once consisted of the majority of the galaxy in the form of human worlds which they regularly culled with only a few outposts. Echidna had changed that and gotten the half million Wraith to settle down on just a handful of worlds. There were only sixteen major Wraith worlds, fifteen if you didn't count the heavily damaged one previously assaulted by the Zarasians, and several dozen small outposts which the Wraith wouldn't hesitate to abandon to save lives.

"The Wraith currently have a standing population numbering half a million," said Todd. "Each member of our race has some combat training and are capable of acting as foot soldiers. As for our fleet, our flagship the _Arima_ has an escort of thirty sentinels. We also have one hundred and seventy enhanced hives, five hundred and ten enhanced cruisers and eighty five carriers, all of which have hornet fighters."

"The Travellers only have twenty seven generational ships available," said Larrin. "They've all been fully restored but they aren't warships, although they are pretty fast. Our population stands at around thirty thousand people but we don't have any actual soldiers."

"The Liberum have four of our twenty two warships in this galaxy," said Tomin. "I have also brought with me eight priors, the pilots for sixteen hundred fighters and four thousand soldiers. I could bring more since the Nox have kindly provided our worlds with stargates but I cannot comment on the troop numbers since I brought the majority of our standing army."

"The Jaffa have sixteen carriers and eight destroyers crewed by thirty six thousand soldiers," said Bra'tac. "Although we have the majority of our fleet tied up guarding our numerous holdings we can bring another sixteen carriers along with twenty four thousand soldiers at any time and with any ships we build in the future."

Despite the fact that the Lucian Alliance had been effectively removed off the galactic map the Milky Way galaxy was far from being a safe place. The Lucians had acquired numerous vessels through legitimate business deals with various parties, usually criminal ones, and those unaligned elements were still active. Piracy wasn't common but it did happen and the majority of the Jaffa fleet was tied up guarding worlds and acting as a symbolic message along the lines of 'don't even think about it' with their very presence. Then of course there was the paranoia that other hostile parties might make a move on their territory, like the weakened but still dangerous Aschen. Even though they had effectively been corralled no one could say when they might make a bid to claim yet another world. General O'Neill was half expecting them to make a play at any moment, which was the reason for a good portion of the fleet remaining in the Milky Way despite the threat of the Zarasians.

"The Genii have a standing army numbering over a million trained soldiers," said Ladon. "We have a number of armoured vehicles as part of our forces but not many after the loss of our main off world production facilities when the Genii Confederation was devastated. All of our people have had some military training, admittedly limited but they can use weapons."

The production world had been one of the first that Ladon had attempted to reclaim, but to his frustration he had found it desolate and devastated. The vast garages had been completely emptied, no doubt in an attempt to fight off the Wraith.

"Oh yeah that reminds me," added Sheppard. "Our soldiers also have tanks, various armoured vehicles and small transports."

"The Asgard and our Vanir brethren have several hundred Titan battlesuits," said Thor. "They are all fitted with the latest shockwave weaponry and shield upgrades."

Everyone was silent as they absorbed the information. Together the allied forces had a very impressive force at their disposal. The only problem was that the enemy probably had a greatly more numerous one at their disposal.

"So we have a large fleet and a large army," said Larrin.

"The only problem is that the Zarasians have hundreds if not thousands of ships and potentially hundreds of thousands of soldiers, maybe even millions," said Xander.

"And that's the problem," said Sheppard. "At the moment we only think that's what they have because we don't actually know for sure. We need to gather Intel on the enemy but there are only a few ways for us to do that."

"If you cannot find the enemy then be ready for the enemy to come to you," said Bra'tac.

"In other words we need to ready our defence while we try to learn more about our enemy," said Xander.

"Our technicians are currently stripping apart the Zarasian flagship down to the superstructure in order to learn more about its technology," said Thor. "We are currently putting together an estimate of its capabilities based on that analysis."

"What do we know so far?" asked Sheppard.

"To date we have encountered a single type of ship other than the flagship, which appears to be a generalised combat vessel," Thor explained as a holographic image of said vessel appeared. "At two hundred metres long it is small but presumably that is so they can be built in large numbers, to allow them to spread out their forces. Their hyperdrives appear to be of a Jaffa destroyer or general Averian equivalent. As for weapons, they possess several forward firing plasma cannons as well as two orbital bombardment emplacements. All are fifty percent stronger than the Averian equivalent, though not as energy efficient as them. Their shields are as strong as an Averian warship or a Jaffa type B Ha'tak. There are no signs however that they possess beam weapon technology. Their fighters are three times larger than a hornet or an Averian fighter and are capable of initiating a suicide manoeuvre where they penetrate the hull of a vessel and the crew are ejected just before the fighter explodes."

"What about those landing pods that attacked the peace talks," Xander asked, with a slight edge of bitterness to his voice. That had been a dark day for the Averian people.

"They appear to be a type of self relocating ring platform, presumably used to deploy troops to the ground rapidly," Thor explained. "Only the flagship possessed examples of these craft."

"However it is possible that there are more types of ships than we have already seen," said Xander. "It is logical for them to build more than one type of craft, such as those capable of acting as troop transports and army carriers. They intended to subjugate an entire galaxy and for that they need a lot of soldiers and the ability to transport them all."

"Are you sure?" Larrin asked. "You guys didn't build any and your peoples are supposed to have a shared history. Wouldn't Zarin be thinking along the same lines?"

Xander shook his head.

"We didn't build them because we didn't need them," explained Xander. "We had no aims on conquering this galaxy, merely defending it from the former Wraith threat. For that we needed warships and our transports are capable of being converted into barracks just by installing a large number of bunk beds in the cargo bays. But Zarin, total megalomaniac that he is, will recognise the need to be able to move large numbers of troops.

"That," he continued, while pointing at the hologram of the Zarasian warship. "Is most likely a strike craft designed to inflict as much damage as possible and be built in large numbers so that they can relocate forces as needed across a large number of worlds."

"So if we go looking for trouble we'll most likely be finding ourselves facing a force we know next to nothing about," said Sheppard.

"So we have to find out what those ships are or we wait for them to make an appearance on their terms," Tomin said. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you how dangerous that is."

They knew what he was referring to, when the Ori had made their first major incursion into the Milky Way their ships had been tailor made to face the defending forces. As such they had been untouchable and had quickly overwhelmed the defending forces before moving on to conquer several worlds.

"It looks like my people's military won't be capable of providing much in the way of assistance at this point then," Ladon said. "Since we lack ships to respond to the threat we will have to keep our forces on standby to defend against a potential ground invasion."

"Then co-ordinating all of our forces for defence is key," said Bra'tac. "Would you like us and the Liberum to spread our forces out amongst the major Wraith worlds or focus them in one place?"

"Neither," said Sheppard. "All Tau'ri ships are currently spread out amongst the various Wraith worlds with our deep space vessels joining the Asgard in performing sweeps of the galaxy to find the Zarasians."

Tomin and Bra'tac shared a look of confusion.

"Then what do you want us to do?" Tomin asked.

Sheppard smiled a predatory grin. "Guerrilla warfare."

"Please explain," Bra'tac requested.

"Your ships are effectively unknowns in this galaxy," Sheppard explained. "The Zarasians don't know who you are and we can use that to our advantage. If you attack the Zarasians but remain separate from the rest of the allied forces then they will hopefully just assume that you are both independent factions and waste time trying to track you down."

"It is an interesting plan," said Bra'tac. "However without an indication of the enemy's domain we will be out of the fight for some time and won't be able to participate in planetary defence actions."

"You're right we don't," Sheppard said. "However we believed they are confined to less inhabited regions of the outer rim which is where we have focused our search."

"There is another problem," added Tomin. "If we are to remain separate from the allied forces we will lack the supplies needed to survive on our own."

"We have a solution for that," Thor said. "With the help of the Tau'ri scientists we have devised a macro to allow a stargate to be dialled from any part of the galaxy even if the location is constantly shifting. This means we can supply a stargate to be placed on one of your ships through which we can transfer supplies as needed. You will need to be travelling at sublight speeds to create a stable connection though."

"We could place food synthesisers on your ships but if the Zarasians realize you have the technology then they will realize we are allies," Sheppard explained. "That could be bad as it means they might try and focus exclusively on one group to pick us off one at a time."

"I understand," said Bra'tac. "The longer we can maintain this deception the better, however it does limit our ability to utilise troops in combat."

"You're right about that but I wouldn't put it past the Zarasians to attempt a boarding action," said Xander. "Those soldiers will be needed to protect your ships from being captured or worse."

"Ground combat will come later," agreed Tomin. "We'll either be fighting to protect a world or we'll be fighting to take one. This Zarin may be power hungry but I highly doubt he is stupid enough to simply detonate every one of his strongholds to prevent us from taking them."

"What about my people's ships?" Larrin asked. "I've said it many times before, they are not warships they're life boats. We can't take on the Zarasians with the numbers we have since these guys like to deploy in large numbers and their weakest ships can take ours in a fight."

"Your ships do have one advantage though," said Sheppard. "They're fast, faster than even the Zarasian ships."

"Your people designed ships capable of moving quickly to outrun any threats," continued Thor. "In addition they are stealthy, though not incapable of being detected by more advanced sensors."

"I fail to see the advantage," Larrin said. "Your own ships are much faster than ours and like you said ours are not undetectable."

"But the Zarasians don't have advanced sensors," Sheppard explained. "They won't be able to detect your ships as easily when they're moving in stealth mode and they won't be able to catch you. Our fastest ships are also our most powerful which means we'll need them for combat missions and not transport duties between planets or scouting out the enemy."

"So you want our ships to perform recon and do supply runs?" Larrin asked.

"If we need them to yes," Sheppard said. "In the coming days every ship we have will count, but if we can we'll keep them out of the fight."

"Do we have an overall battle plan as of yet?" Bra'tac asked.

"Fortify our positions, build up our forces and find the enemy so that we can destroy them," Thor stated factually.

"In other words go on the defensive while our search parties track down the enemy bases and we'll lay siege to them," Sheppard said.

"Won't that mean we have to uncover our defences to attack targets?" Tomin asked.

"Not necessarily," Sheppard said. "We'll be using our Pegasus and O'Neill class vessels for search and destroy missions, so we won't have to redeploy other forces unless we find a particularly tempting target. If we find a suitable target in your individual fleet's vicinity though we'll let you know."

"What do you want us to do until then?" Bra'tac asked.

"Redeploy your forces to different sectors of the galaxy," said Xander. "We'll have them slowly advance system by system into what we believe is Zarasian territory until we can give you some suitable targets to take on. If we time it right they'll just suspect these to be two different exploration groups canvassing the local area. To complete the ruse we'll have you periodically transmit unsecured information about the systems you explore, just not to us. When we want to communicate with you we'll use secure transmissions that can't be hacked."

Both Tomin and Bra'tac nodded their approval.

"If there is nothing else then we'll call this meeting to a close," said Sheppard.

When no one raised any new issues to be discussed the meeting was brought to an end and the representatives went to brief their subordinates.

* * *

**Liberum Warship – Tomin's Flagship**

Onboard the _Liberatus_ Tomin sat in his quarters taking a moment to rest having briefed the various commanders and priors under his command. With the help of the Tau'ri they had been able to create an interface system that allowed them to control their warships without the telepathic abilities of a Prior. Admittedly telepathic control did allow for a faster reaction time than a control terminal could allow given the need to enter commands but this did mean that a Prior didn't need to be onboard or could focus on other things. This also meant that they could deploy the Priors on the ground to support the ground soldiers in combat if need be. With only eight, technically nine including Tomin, Priors in this galaxy the scope of their combined abilities was somewhat limited but it was still potent enough to make a difference. The ability to summon up a protective field of energy was not something to simply be overlooked.

His new abilities certainly gave him an advantage he could use to great effect. Being able to instantly co-ordinate with the other ships and forces under his command with only a thought was something most military leaders could only dream of. The possibilities were almost limitless.

He was interrupted from his musings by the chime from his door, indicating he had a visitor.

Rising to his feet he opened the door with a thought, another perk of his abilities. On the other side of the door was Prior Andose. Andose had been one of the younger Priors to join the ranks of so called holy messengers but due to his more complacent temperament when it came to punishing the unbelievers he had never seen action in the Milky Way. Oh he had fervently believed in the power of the Ori and the wisdom they offered but he was not particularly forceful when he preached. The true 'bow down or die' Priors had in fact been deployed to the Milky Way for the crusade but the Ori had still needed preachers at home to keep up the daily rituals. Much like Tomin however he was still a fervent believer of the wisdom of the teachings of Origin.

"It is time again Commander," Andose said as he entered the room.

Tomin nodded.

"Establish the connection," he ordered.

Andose raised his staff before striking it on the ground. As the tip of the staff connected with the ground the pale oval crystal in the head began to glow and the connection with the Doci was established. Because the energy required to establish a link spanning galaxies was much greater than a mere nine people could create the Doci had to establish it from his end and so Tomin had decided to regularly schedule such a link.

Within a moment of Andose accepting the connection on his end Tomin found himself in Celestis standing before the Doci.

The Doci was known simply as just that and every member of the Liberum knew why. As a child the Doci had been raised by the Priors and the former Doci to act as the voice of the Ori. From an early age he was schooled in the teachings of Origin and received the best education of any child in the galaxy. He had been raised to be a fervent believer in the Ori and their teachings and one day the former Doci had transformed him. After he had been exposed to the arc of truth however he had found himself at a loss for what to do. The teachings he had been raised to follow had revealed to be the words of liars. Yet when he had met Tomin and Andose he had found his place in the universe again. Tomin had tasked him with helping to maintain order and rise beyond what the Ori had left them with, and Andose had shared with him his thoughts on the teachings of Origin. During his spare time the Doci now worked on rewriting the teachings of Origin to remove the Ori bias.

"Greetings my friend," said the Doci.

"Greetings Doci," replied Tomin.

"How go things so far?" the Doci asked.

"Well," said Tomin. "We have established a battle plan and my forces will soon be departing to take our position."

The Doci nodded.

"Then it is fortunate this is the last stage in your transformation, although if you had only waited longer we could have performed the additional one without the side effects."

Tomin smiled at his friend's concern. In order to facilitate his upcoming departure Tomin had insisted that the Doci perform the transformation before he departed rather than attempting it at such a distance. The strain of this particular transformation when coupled with the one he had just recently undergone had resulted in his silver hair.

"It is of no consequence," Tomin assured him. "My hair is a small price to pay for the gift you have given me. Besides I would not want you to overexert yourself, controlling the staged transformations is hard enough without attempting to do so at a distance."

"You'll be happy to hear that things have been running smoothly in your absence," the Doci said. "The latest harvest reports are quite promising and the mass production facilities are operating at full capacity."

"That is good to hear," Tomin said. "Now I think you had better start the process before you strain yourself too much."

"You worry too much," the Doci said with a smile.

The Doci reached out and placed his hands against Tomin's temple. Concentrating, the crystal on his chest plate began to glow as the Doci focused his powers on the task at hand. In a minute the process was complete and Tomin could feel his abilities were stronger than ever before.

"Don't try and test them until we break the connection," the Doci warned.

"I won't," Tomin replied. "You certainly seem to have the transformation process down."

"Yes but I have yet to start experimenting to allow for a boost in our abilities," the Doci said. "Our abilities are still quite limited and there are several we have yet to activate despite what the research from the Tau'ri suggests and the Orici's abilities."

"True but that can wait for now," Tomin said. "We need to wait until the transformation process is more wide spread before we start looking to boost our powers further. We can already communicate telepathically thanks to the crystals and we have plenty of them so mind reading is not something we really need right now. It is far too invasive for my liking and we have no known way to defend against it."

"I will wait for volunteers," the Doci assured him. "But there are many Priors who are very eager to volunteer for testing in order to repent for the things they have done."

"Hard work is the way to repent," Tomin replied sternly. "Not attempting to sacrifice yourself so that you might be remembered in a good light."

When he saw the hard look the Doci was giving him he relented.

"Alright fine then, but don't over do it. Choose carefully from the volunteers though, we are trying to get rid of the fanaticism from the Priors. I don't want them trying to transfer it to the pursuit of power. Only choose those who understand that this is for our people as a whole, not just the Priors."

"You mean us Priors," said the Doci with a small smile.

"I should go," Tomin replied, with a smile of his own. "The others can't lend you their strength forever."

"See you tomorrow my friend," said the Doci before severing the connection.

In a flash Tomin found himself back on his ship standing in front of Andose.

"How did it go?" Andose asked. Being the conduit he had no idea what the Doci and Tomin had said to one another.

"It went well," Tomin assured him. "The transformation process is now complete."

"Care to test out your new abilities?" Andose asked with a grin.

"Let's," said Tomin.

* * *

**Please Review. I am still taking requests.**


	55. Learning Curve

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: I realised that advancing the evolution of humans was an ability that would be foolish to waste. Those new abilities will serve Tomin well and you are about to get a small taster of what he can now do.**

**Cdoctor: Wait no longer.**

**Oddliver: I originally envisioned the maco particle rifle from star trek when i thought of the plasma rifle. But the terminator plasma gun is quite similar to my envisioned shape for the plasma blaster and plasma storm cannon.**

**stormwolf3710: I don't operate on the belief of hyperspace routes since ships have been shown to ignore entire planets while travelling in hyperspace. The Traveller vessels will be useful for operating below the radar on supply runs.**

**Osced: I trust i have answered your question.**

**romanhellhound: Wait no longer.**

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**BIG Z1776: If you see chapter 28 you'll see how i recruited the needed numbers from multiple branches across the whole of the IOA, thus allowing for the necessary personnel without the need for disclosure. As it stands i don't have any plans for disclosure to happen.**

**vash1914: Thank you.**

**Jedi Carpet: Welcome back. I always seem to make that mistake when i type it. Maybe i should just stop using that phrase.**

**Monsterjeffbuk: Unfortunately if i hope to update regularly the time in between is necessary. Enjoy.**

* * *

_**Liberatus**_

Tomin and Andose strode down the ships corridors heading for the training room. Along the way they encountered numerous crewmen who paused to greet them as they paused. Eventually they wound up at the training room, a specially designed room on the ship where the soldiers of the Liberum could keep their skills sharp while they spent a lot of time onboard ship.

As the two entered the large training room they took in the room's occupants. On one side of the room was a firing range where several soldiers were practising with their staff weapons, shooting at targets set at various ranges. On the other side of the room there were soldiers sparring with training swords, but the real show was in the centre of the sparring area where Prior Caius was sparring against several soldiers.

Against a Prior a few soldiers would normally stand no chance whatsoever. However these weren't your typical circumstances. For one Caius wasn't using the full extent of his abilities, or rather he was using the full extent of his personal abilities without the aid of the other Priors via his staff. His staff lay on the mat next to him and there were six soldiers with staff weapons in front of him.

It was a training exercise meant to test a Prior's skill in combat. The aim for the Prior was to retrieve his staff without getting shot. The aim for the soldiers was to shoot the Prior before he got his staff back because once he did he would be powerful enough to take them all down without breaking a sweat. The staff weapons used a white stun crystal rather than the regular blue one. It wouldn't do to inflict a fatal wound during training.

"Begin," intoned one of the watchers.

As one the soldiers immediately fired at Caius. Drawing on his limited abilities Caius created a shield that blocked the six shots, though he staggered somewhat from the effect of so many hitting at once. The soldiers used this opportunity to spread out around him so that they were harder to target and the Caius would be unable defend against all of their attacks.

Seeing the tactic for what it was Caius raised his hands and sent out two telekinetic force strikes at the two outer soldiers. The two soldiers took the strikes head on and were knocked to the mat, their staff weapons falling out of their hands as they landed. The other four soldiers immediately started firing blast after blast at the Prior, hoping to keep him occupied long enough for their companions to get back up and into the fight again.

Caius immediately put up a shield in response, waiting for the right moment to strike back. When the other two soldiers got back on their feet and picked up their staffs the other four relaxed slightly and Caius chose that moment to act. Moving with a nimbleness that defied his wizened appearance he rolled to his left, letting his shield drop, before gathering a powerful force strike and sending it at the four soldiers. Not expecting such a move they were unable to react fast enough to move out of the way, not that they could actually see it coming. All four of them were sent scattering to the mat, feeling like they had been hit by a sledge hammer.

The first two immediately started firing again and Caius took to dodging while sending out the occasional strike. The two soldiers, having gotten wise to his hand movements' significance, attempted to dodge the invisible strikes sent their way but with only limited success. The two of them staggered as they were clipped by several blasts but remained standing nonetheless. Caius meanwhile was beginning to find himself in a tricky situation. The other four soldiers were getting to their feet, or rather they were attempting to since Caius was sending force strikes their way whenever they attempted to get up. This just meant that the other two were slowly circling around behind him. Sensing he was about to overwhelmed he decided to try a new approach and utilise one of his less used abilities, energy manipulation.

Redirecting his attention to the other two soldiers he knocked them to the floor, allowing the other four to get to their feet once again. As one the four of them fired off a volley of shots at Caius but just before they could hit him he extended his will and sent them smashing into each other. Having an idea what was going to happen next he quickly raised a shield just as the four stun blasts collided and the energies combined. The result was a mild stun wave powerful enough to render the six soldiers weak enough that their legs were unable to support them and they collapsed to the ground, momentarily out of the fight.

Caius extended his hand and pulled his staff to him with his telepathy, raising it above his head in triumph. The other soldiers applauded politely while several helped the disorientated soldiers to their feet again.

"Nicely done," said Tomin.

"Thank you Commander," said Caius, before tilting his head to look at Tomin.

"Something is different about you," he said, with narrowed eyes before they widened with realisation. "You've undergone the final stage of your transformation."

Andose smiled, "Well sensed."

"I just underwent the last change," Tomin confirmed.

"Is it that time already?" Caius asked surprised. "I must have been in here longer than I thought."

"Yes I can tell by the number of bruises on these soldiers," Tomin said. A number of the soldiers were sporting bruises from the more powerful telepathic force strikes.

"They'll heal," Caius assured him. "Care to test out your new abilities?"

The three of them moved over to the practise range were three metal, gong like targets were standing at the end. Each one when struck would produce a distinctly different tone when struck by a telepathic force strike.

Gathering up his new abilities Tomin settled into a fighting stance. Those with a complete mastery over their abilities could use their powers without the need for physical gestures to aid control. The idea was that at lower skill levels the telekinetic powers could be used as an extension of physical actions that were already second nature.

Raising a closed fist he punched forwards, a powerful telekinetic force strike surging outwards and struck all three targets causing a deep ring to resonate around the room.

"Show off," Andose said jokingly.

"Actually I was aiming for the middle one," Tomin said with a frown.

"Ah," said Caius. "You're not used to the increase in power. Try a smaller action first then to get a feel for the size of the strike."

Tomin raised a single outstretched hand and flicked a finger at the target. A force strike shot out and struck the middle target square on, though with a distinctly shorter note than before.

"Better," Tomin noted.

"Now remember the feel of that strike and maintain the shape but dial up the power a little," advised Caius.

Caius was the most experienced in fighting using his abilities, mostly because of the many hours he spent practising.

Tomin resettled into his previous stance and punched outwards. The force strike hit the target only this time it emitted a slightly longer note as Tomin had increased the power.

"Now keep dialling it up," Caius said.

Tomin repeatedly sent out stronger and stronger force strikes at the target, each one causing a longer lasting note. Eventually Tomin reached his limit and the tones, though now deep and booming, remained the same length.

"Well done," said Andose. "You seem to have the basic idea down. With practise you should be able to focus the blasts into more concentrated bursts and without such a large physical action."

Tomin raised his open palm at the target. With his hand remaining completely still he sent out a force strike at the middle target. He intended for a mid strength strike but instead the note produced was short, no longer than when he had first struck the target with only a flick of his finger. He had failed to create the same level of power using only his mind and not an ingrained physical action to assist his control. He tried again, focusing his will into a more powerful burst, but the result was far from what he had hoped. It was definitely more powerful but his control had suffered as a result and he had managed to create a wide burst of power that struck all three targets.

"I see what you mean," Tomin said. "It's not easy to produce a focused strike with high power."

"It'll get easier," Caius assured him.

"So what do you suggest?" Tomin asked.

Caius shrugged. "Keep practising."

"Practise makes perfect," Andose said with a grin. "Experiment with different strikes. Once you get it right remember that mindset and reproduce the action."

"Focused force strikes and energy manipulation are the two hardest skills to master," Caius explained. "You can easily create a sweep strike because it's just a wide blast of power requiring very little control but if you want to create a focused strike so you don't waste energy you need to practise."

Telekinetic actions, like physical ones, still required energy and focus in order to utilise. Admittedly it would take a sizeable amount of usage to actually wear someone out but eventually it would take its toll.

Tomin sighed. "I had better control than this when my powers were weaker."

Andose shrugged. "The price of acquiring more power is that you must learn how to wield it. You just need time to adjust to your new strength and to get a feel for how much to use to achieve the desired result."

Tomin nodded, moving away from the three targets to a lone one a short distance away from the others. It was very different to the others, circular in shape but with a small hole in the middle. Behind it was a swinging hammer that would strike a different gong positioned above it. The contraption was designed to test one's control of the shape and power of force strikes. The idea was to direct a force strike small enough to get through the hole without hitting the sides and with enough power to cause the hammer to swing and hit the second gong. There were numerous other set ups like these for the priors to test their various powers, including fire and general energy manipulation. One of them was actually dedicated to redirecting energy blasts to a limited degree and many hours of practise on it had allowed Caius to perform his stun wave trick earlier.

"Last one to hit the gong has to fly the ship?" Tomin suggested.

Andose and Caius grinned at the challenge.

"Open palmed though," said Caius. "You need the practise."

"Deal," said Tomin.

He casually raised a hand at the target and let loose a precision shot that struck the hammer dead on but lacked enough power.

"Not bad," Caius said approvingly. "Now watch how your elders do it."

* * *

"They have come far haven't they," Janus said admiringly. "To go beyond blind obedience to forging a nation to call their own is truly wonderful."

"The Jaffa or the Liberum?" Morgan asked.

"Both," Janus replied.

"I cannot deny that they have certainly come far," said Oma. "It will be a shame to see such bright souls pass from this plane of existence, unless we offer them ascension of course."

"Did you have anyone in particular in mind?" Janus asked.

"One or two," said Oma.

"I'm surprised at you Janus," said Morgan. "I thought you would be more interested in the war effort."

Janus shrugged. "They are doing all that they can do until they can go on the offensive which they can't do until they find the Zarasian worlds, assuming they even have worlds."

"And yet you haven't even taken a look at the new dockyards they are building," Morgan noted.

"How do you know I haven't snuck away when you weren't looking?" Janus asked with a crooked smile.

"Because I haven't let you out of my sight since the last time you tried to sneak off to study _Borealis_," Morgan shot back.

"Can you really say you didn't want to see what they would do to pull a city ship back from the scrap heap?" Janus asked. "You have to admit the Tau'ri certainly are creative."

"And highly militarised," Morgan pointed out. "They turned the remains of _Borealis_ into a weapon."

"No a sanctuary," Janus countered. "A relief centre for their brave soldiers to rest. A base that can relocate to wherever it is needed as the battle lines change is a brilliant idea. We could have used thinking like that during the war with the Wraith. Our warships can't even be called proper warships since by Tau'ri standards they are more like massive missile ships. They develop strong weapons to protect what they care about, that isn't something to be looked down on."

"So will you be interfering again?" Morgan asked. "Or will you let them fight their own battles?"

"I am one man, what real difference can I make?" Janus asked innocently.

"That isn't a no," Oma pointed out.

"No it isn't," said Janus. "But they already have the powers of the Liberum behind them so what do they need me for?"

"So you would if you were needed but won't because you're not?" Morgan asked.

"You could say that," Janus said dismissively.

Morgan sighed. "Sometimes Janus you really do try my patience."

"Life is full of tests," Oma pointed out.

Morgan glared at her briefly.

"What do you think will happen?" she asked seriously.

Janus frowned. "It will be difficult but they aren't facing this challenge alone so it won't be impossible."

"Lives will be lost," Morgan said sadly. "Innocents will die fighting for other's freedom."

"But so many more will be saved because they banded together against the threat," Janus pointed out.

"How bad do you think it will get?" Morgan asked.

Janus sighed. "I couldn't even begin to guess. They have plans in place if it turns nasty though."

"Like Concordia for instance."

"And the Thor."

"Should we interfere?" Morgan asked doubtfully.

Janus looked at her and knew how difficult it was for her to ask that question.

"No," he answered. "I think we should help."

* * *

**Unknown Location – Zarasian Lab**

If any one from Earth were to walk in here they would immediately assume that this was the lab of a mad scientist. On numerous work benches throughout the spacious room there were examples of nearly all current Zarasian technology, as well as some prototypes, in various states of completion. But this wasn't the lab of a mere engineer, as denoted by the various vats and pods lining the walls, but the lab of a cyberneticist. A cyberneticist who happened to be the greatest mind in Zarasian history and had more than earned the title of Cyber Lord but had also earned the reputation of mad scientist.

Zarin walked into the lab and looked around. By a far bench stood a figure hunched over and clad in a pitch black robe. Around the figure was the occasional spark from an unseen piece of equipment that the figure was working on.

"Cyber Lord Azamoth," Zarin intoned.

"Yes Etere," Azamoth said in his strangely high and sing-song voice.

The Cyber Lord turned to look at his master, revealing his peculiar form. His right hand was clad in a metallic contraption, with his index finger tipped by a wielding tool which was still aglow with energy. Beneath the hood of his cloak his face was masked in shadow except for a single glowing red light coming from the area around his left eye. When he spoke the withered skin around his mouth twitched aside to reveal glinting gold teeth. From the depths of the cloak shadows formed, hinting at the tube like objects beneath.

"What progress have you made?" Zarin asked.

"Much Etere, much," Azamoth said gleefully. "The copied data files have been restored to working order and I have been able to determine the source of the intrusion. It was, as we suspected, a direct neural interface from a cybernetic being."

Zarin frowned. "I underestimated this Sovaer. Now I know he is not all he appears. It will not happen again."

"Such a fascinating creature. I would very much like to study him. So much could be gleamed. Records from the killed reapers show he was even a match for them."

"He was going hand to hand with several reapers before they brought him down? Now that does bear further study," Zarin said thoughtfully. "What is the status of the new batch?"

Azamoth looked at the row of tanks behind him.

"They are now fully grown and ready for the procedure," he said. "I am experimenting with some upgrades before putting them into mass production. The standard version will be a fine addition to your army when complete."

"Begin at once," Zarin ordered.

"Of course Etere," Azamoth intoned.

Both turned and went their separate ways. Zarin walked out of the lab to leave the technological genius to his work while Azamoth went to his private operating theatre in the next room. The floor rang with a metallic click each time he took a step and his cloak swished around him, revealing stark metal beneath and curling around unseen tubes.

No one knew exactly what was beneath the dark cloak that he never removed but there were stories, legends even, that were whispered amongst his subordinates. Azamoth was old, very old and older than any who served him could say for sure since he had been around longer than even those long since retired due to age. Some believed he had found an actual form of immortality but unlike Zarin he had not succumbed to a fake form of immortality. As his skill in his craft had progressed he had chosen to improve upon his form, replacing decaying flesh with his own glorious creations. Now he had taken a step beyond mortal flesh to become something new, something stranger than even the reapers.

Stepping into the operating theatre he shrugged aside the cloak from his right hand and tapped away at a control panel set into the wall. The door behind him slid shut with a hiss, a pristine metallic operating table rose from the floor and several tables, covered with operating instruments, on suspension arms lowered from the ceiling. Finally a robotic arm pulled a capsule containing the still form of a reaper from the wall before rotating it ninety degrees and placing it onto the table.

Azamoth raised his left arm, his cloak shifting to uncover an advanced cybernetic device where his forearm and hand should be. The device hovered over the reaper's cranium and a bright red laser shot from one of the many protruding implants to slice through the reaper's skull.

Azamoth grinned. He always enjoyed the prospect of a new experiment in cybernetics.

The laser scalpel sliced away the reaper's right eye lids. From his left arm a small claw emerged and plucked the reaper's exposed eye from its socket. Wasting no time the self proclaimed machine god set to work implanting the latest of his genius creations.

The other capsules were occupied by reapers, all of which had been infused with various cybernetic implants from energy weapons to robotic eyepieces. These were just his personal experiments, the prototypes of what had gone on to become the final versions when the various pieces were put together in a single form. His masterpiece though was still on the drawing board but he had plans, great plans. He had no ambitions to seize power however. He was completely loyal to Zarin who not only supported his experiments but supplied with unlimited resources and countless reapers to experiment on as long as he got results, and he did.

Smiling gleefully he set to work on his latest experiment.

* * *

**_Kalen Aror_**

Since the declaration of war the mighty Averian warship had been on patrol duty ready to lend support for any world that came under threat as well as patrolling the space around Alliance worlds.

Everyone onboard was on edge because of the situation. They were literally waiting for the enemy to turn up so they could fight them and that was not a situation they were comfortable with. Xander didn't like it, his crew didn't like it and no one in the Alliance liked it. The only good thing about this was that it at least gave them time to pack up and get the civilians to Concordia, time they desperately needed if they were to evacuate the more industrialised worlds.

Xander was interrupted from his musings by the voice of his comm. officer.

"Sir we're receiving a distress call from a Traveller vessel. They are under attack by a small Zarasian combat group, five vessels."

Xander frowned. Five Zarasian vessels wasn't much but against a Traveller vessel it was more than enough, just one would have been enough.

"Anyone else nearby?" he asked.

"We're the closest vessel on patrol duty sir."

The Tau'ri and Asgard vessels were easily faster than the _Aror_ but they were all on search duty elsewhere. The _Aror_ was the closest vessel designated for patrol duty and thus was required to respond to the threat since it was easily within their capabilities to handle it.

"Set a course and sound the alert," Xander ordered. "Battle stations people."

"Aye sir."

The _Aror_ shifted in hyperspace, her course altering to lend the Traveller vessel support.

In minutes they emerged from hyperspace to find a heart wrenching scene. With a gas giant as a backdrop a lone and broken Traveller vessel lay crippled in space while five Zarasian strike vessels circled like vultures. Xander knew that if they had left the ship space worthy then it was only because they planned to board her. They would have to just take out those ships before they could launch fighters.

"Take us in," he ordered. "Put us between the Traveller vessel and the enemy. Forward weapons, fire at will."

Along the sides of the ships, covers on weapons nests retracted and heavy plasma cannons rose from the hull before locking into place. As the ship surged forwards her plasma beams powered up and lanced out at a lone vessel directly in their path. The raw power of the five beams saw the Zarasian strike craft dispatched in short order, exploding as the shields collapsed and the beams cut through the hull.

"Fire full broadside, plasma storm," Xander ordered as the _Aror_ came to rest over her stricken companion.

With the order given the plasma cannons on the sides of the _Aror_ powered up and unleashed a hail storm of orange bolts at the four enemy vessels. The Zarasian strike craft didn't stand a chance as they were literally smothered by the storm. It was impossible to tell if they had attempted to launch fighters, as they died violent deaths with numerous explosions dotting their hulls.

The battle had barely lasted a minute, with the Zarasian vessels unable to withstand against the destructive power the Aror could unleash in a single volley.

"I have the Traveller vessel online sir," the comm. officer reported.

"Put it onscreen," Xander ordered.

The main view screen image flickered and changed to the scene on the bridge of the Traveller vessel.

The image showed a scene of a battle against chaos. The bridge was filled with a thin layer of smoke from several small fires while broken cables could be seen hanging from the ceiling and consoles sparked. The captain of the vessel looked as battered as his ship but relatively healthy.

"This is Yovin Calim calling the Averian ship, thank you for your assistance," he said.

"This Admiral Xander of the _Kalen Aror_," Xander replied. "Don't mention it. What is your status?"

"It's bad, although I'm sure I don't have to tell you that," Calim said. "We've lost shields, weapons and our engines are completely gone. We have numerous wounded but can't get a count just yet because our internal communications are down. Luckily we weren't boarded but considering our condition I think that was their intention until you arrived."

"Lower our shields and prep the shuttles," Xander ordered before turning back to the screen. "We're sending over shuttles to transport the wounded across, if necessary we'll evacuate your entire crew."

"Thank you Admiral," said Calim. "I just hope it won't be necessary."

"As do I but…" He was cut off as the _Aror_ rocked and alarms blared. "Report!"

"Enemy craft exiting the gas giant's atmosphere and firing! Plasma beams are offline. Shields are now up!"

They were using the gas giant's atmosphere to hide themselves from our sensors, Xander realised. That was why they had left their prey intact, it was a trap!

"Return fire," Xander ordered.

"Admiral," Calim yelled over the noise. "Get out of here now!"

"I can't do that," Xander stated adamantly.

"We're reading fifty ships out there Admiral," Calim stated. "You can't survive against that, save your crew and get out of here. We were dead the moment we dropped out of hyperspace and the Zarasian's ambushed us."

"Damn it!" Xander yelled as the Aror rocked as she was struck. "I'm sorry. Helm, get us out of here now."

The _Aror_ surged forwards ploughing through the formation of Zarasian strike craft. The much smaller Zarasian vessels swarmed around her attempting to block her escape route, ignoring the crippled Traveller vessel in favour of the more appetising prey. Bolt after bolt was fired erratically as the gunners targeted whatever appeared in their sights but there seemed to be no end to the Zarasian vessels and they had now launched well over a thousand fighter craft to pepper the ship's shield with shots.

"Launch missiles and get us out of this mess," Xander ordered.

The _Aror_ swerved until the thinnest part of the swarm was in front of them and charged forwards. Meanwhile missile after missile left the launch tubes as fast as they could be loaded, peppering the enemy craft with explosions. Space became a maelstrom of fighters, plasma bolts, missiles and explosions.

As the forward heavy plasma cannons of the _Aror_ fired and destroyed a Zarasian strike craft the ship suddenly found its path clear, but with the hounds of hell nipping at her heels.

Just when it seemed like they would be able to escape disaster struck.

"Massive hyperspace window opening dead ahead."

"Evasive manoeuvres now!" Xander ordered.

The helm officer desperately tried to manoeuvre the ship away from the now fully formed hyperspace window and out of the path of the oncoming Zarasian ships, flying purely by instruments alone he couldn't even see the large craft emerge from the hyperspace window.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	56. SPECTREs or canaries

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: I have plenty more planned for the future for Tomin, but that session served to show what priors are capable of at the moment. Janus, Zarin, both good at giving people a headache years down the line. If it comes to it there is always the handy self destruct button for emergencies.**

**Cdoctor: Doh, that was my bad. The training session is one of those things that need to happen just to make a few points clear. Mainly it was about establishing a base line for current Prior abilities. More action is to come though.**

**Oddliver: The Zarasians can be cunning buggers as well.**

**Just A Crazy-Man: Wait until you read the next chapter.**

**Andriabow: Thank you.**

**Monsterjeffbuk: The Tomin scene was long i will admit, however it was also necessary. To make up for it though i have a lot of action planned.**

**wantjasperspeen: Finding the right balance between action and dialogue is tricky but i do have quite a few character convo scenes in the future amongst all the carnage. I refuse to write a story where people don't talk during breaks in the major events.**

* * *

**_Kalen Aror_**

The ship narrowly swerved to avoid the hyperspace window in front of it while a horde of Zarasian strike craft and their fighter escorts followed close behind. The _Aror_ was already feeling the strain from being mauled at by so many ships and the fighters swarming around her were preventing her from opening a hyperspace window to escape. But what no one expected was the large silver ship that emerged from the hyperspace window and the transmission that followed.

"Incoming transmission! Spotlight!"

Xander reacted immediately. "Bring us about. All guns target the enemy capital ships. Set a course for the Traveller vessel, we are not leaving them behind."

"New contact is transmitting IFF. It's the _O'Neill_!"

Xander smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever. He owed the Supreme Commander something special for this particular save.

Caught off guard the Zarasian warships were forced to scatter as the large shape of the _O'Neill_ surged towards them, weapons firing with impunity. The _Aror_, despite its massive bulk, was designed to perform a tight turn to bring its broadside to bear against a target. Thrusters along the side of the vessel fired in time with the main engines allowing it to spin round and head back the way it came, much to the surprise of the Zarasian fighters swarming around it.

The _O'Neill_ slowed down, allowing the _Aror_ to catch up and even overtake while weapons were blazing away at the Zarasian strike craft. Then the spotlight manoeuvre came into play. Asgard ships were equipped with transport beams emitters along the outer hull as standard, and these came into play now. Like massive white spotlights the transport beams swept across space, making anything they touched seemingly vanish under their gaze. Using this method Zarasian fighters that had been swarming the Averian warship were removed from space without mercy. Within moments the space around the _Aror_ has been cleared of the fighters and both ships were still sniping away at the enemy capital ships.

Both ships charged forwards towards the crippled Traveller vessel at full speed. Quickly they reached her and the _O'Neill_ snagged her with a tractor beam before both ships opened hyperspace windows and vanished from the battlefield. The Zarasian strike craft were left behind, frustrated that their prey had managed to escape them.

"We detected a number of Zarasian vessels on our sensors and I thought you might need some help," Thor said. "It seems I was right."

"Thank you for that Supreme Commander Thor," Xander replied, breathing a sigh of relief at having escaped that nightmare.

"I have issued an alert to all forces in the local vicinity but my sensors indicate the Zarasian vessels are scattering," Thor reported.

"Makes sense," said Xander. "They wouldn't want us to be able to track them down by following a group of them so they separate in multiple directions so that if we want to track their destination we need to follow them all."

"I will drop the Traveller vessel off at Concordia then return to my search area," Thor stated. "Is your vessel capable of returning to Hope unaided?"

"Yes, though we'll need some time in dock to repair our plasma beams," Xander said. "If you hadn't arrived when you did the damage could have been much worse."

"You're welcome," said Thor. "I will see you later."

With those parting words the transmission was cut and the _O'Neill_ accelerated away, leaving the _Aror_ behind.

* * *

**Unknown Location**.

"Etere, one of our strike fleets has sent a report. They ambushed an enemy vessel."

"Did it send out a distress signal?"

"Yes Etere. An Averian warship responded and was subsequently ambushed."

"Was it destroyed?"

"No Etere. An Asgard warship arrived to assist its escape."

"And the other vessel?"

"Crippled but towed away by the Asgard warship via tractor beam."

"A tractor beam, interesting. A pity that they were able to escape but no matter. Begin stage two and inform Cyber Lord Azamoth to prepare for stage three."

"At once Etere."

* * *

**Hyperspace – SPECTRE transport shuttle**

"You all heard what happened to the _Aror_ right?" asked Sovaer.

The other SPECTRE's looked at him with a look of boredom. Of course they had heard about it. It had been in the reading material for the mission they were currently on.

"Yes Sovaer we read it," Teyla replied. "The Aror responded to a distress signal from a Traveller vessel and was ambushed by a fleet of Zarasian strike craft but were saved by the timely arrival of the _O'Neill_."

"Then you see what my point is," Sovaer said. "The distress signal we are receiving now is clearly an ambush."

"Of course it's an ambush," Todd scoffed. "But so what?"

"So we know it's an ambush and yet we're the ones being sent in," said Sovaer. "I only just got back into this body and would like some time to enjoy being in it. I did promise Jakose that I would try to avoid suicide missions."

"Which is why we are the ones being deployed on this scout mission," Todd replied, concentrating on flying the ship. "We can investigate the source of the distress signal while maintaining a stealth profile."

"A distress signal from a Zarasian ship of all things," Sovaer pointed out. "That practically screams trouble."

"We will be perfectly safe," Eir assured him. "This ship has been equipped with the latest in stealth technology, provided we emerge from hyperspace a safe distance from the other ship."

"There is definitely nothing else out there?" Sovaer asked. "Look I realise my paranoia is getting on your nerves but it has kept me alive all these years."

"Scans indicate the ship is in deep space, far away from any star system," Todd informed him.

"Ok, so what assurances do we have that Zarin won't just trigger a self destruct command the moment we step onboard?" Sovaer asked.

"If such an eventuality were to occur there are contingency plans are in place," ISIS informed him, appearing amongst the group. "The moment a power up is detected I will immediately beam all SPECTRE personnel back aboard before entering hyperspace."

ISIS had been a recent addition to the customised SPECTRE transport shuttle and this was the smallest ship the AI had been installed on to date.

Sovaer looked thoughtful.

"Ok, just checking," he said, causing the others to roll their eyes.

"For a minute there I thought you were being callow," said Todd.

"Perish the thought," Teyla added.

"Thank you for that," Sovaer said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Todd replied cheekily.

Silence reigned for a short while. Sovaer had been around Todd long enough to know that when he mocked you it was because he was hiding some other emotion. There was only one thing any of them could think of that Todd would have on his mind right now.

"We're going to find her," Sovaer said softly. "No matter how long it takes we'll find her."

The others turned to look at Todd, waiting for him to respond but Todd's only reaction was to nod.

"We're here," ISIS said, just as the transport shuttle dropped out of hyperspace. "Cloak is online."

The shuttle's occupants moved forward to look out the cockpits main viewport at the long arrow head shaped ship before them. They could be certain of two things just from glancing at it. It was definitely a Zarasian ship, that much was clear from the shape of it, and it was much bigger than the previously encountered strike craft.

"So not a strike craft then," Sovaer noted.

"Definitely not," Todd agreed.

"Is it dead?" Teyla asked.

This ship, whatever it was, was about 600 metres long, arrow shaped and lacking so much as a single active light on it's hull. It certainly appeared to be dead in the water.

"Scans indicate only minimal power readings coming from all areas," ISIS stated. "Life signs are not being detected."

"Rings?" Sovaer asked.

"Many, but none active."

"Are there any areas you can't scan in detail?" Todd asked.

"There is a sizeable central area that appears to be shielded."

"Do you have a record of similar shielding having been used before on Zarasian ships?" Todd asked thoughtfully.

"One record exists. Similar shielding was encountered around the area on the Zarasian flagship designated as the hatchery."

As they spoke the shuttle gently flew around the large ship and they got a better look at her. Her underbelly was much flatter than her more pointed top and was dotted with a number of circular hatches. These they had seen examples of only once before, on the Zarasian flagship.

"Are there any smaller vessels docked inside the ship?" Todd asked. He had a hunch.

"Several pod like craft appear to be present in areas above the exit hatches on the underbelly."

"I knew it," Todd exclaimed. "Behold the long suspected Zarasian troop transport."

"Are you sure?" Sovaer asked curiously, while tapping away at the console to review the sensor readings with his own eyes.

"A large hatchery to produce a large number of reapers, rapid deployment craft, multiple ring platforms," Todd listed. "Oh yes, a ship like this is all that is needed to conquer one of the many primitive worlds this galaxy possesses."

"What do you think we should do?" Eir asked.

"Beam aboard and check it out," Sovaer replied. "If there is a hatchery on board then we can find another clone and possibly a working command link."

After much research on behalf of the scientists assigned to the _Doom Bringer_ they had been able to uncover some of its secrets. Each clone was connected to a subspace transceiver that allowed them to receive commands and relay data back to another queen higher up the command chain and ultimately all ended up connecting to Eurielle. The transceiver had stopped receiving any signals the moment the Zarasians realised that Eurielle had been actively talking to someone. Without an active link to work from they had instead been forced to try and find where the signal was broadcasting to, which wasn't working. A working command link would allow them to at the very least discover the location of another hatchery and maybe even ping the signal further up the command chain all the way to Eurielle.

"Sounds good to me," Ronon said, slipping a fresh power cell into his particle magnum.

* * *

"Janus you cannot be serious!" Morgan exclaimed, shocked by his outburst.

"I can, and usually am," Janus shot back. "I just sometimes choose to indulge myself and have a little fun, but in this case I am being very serious."

"If we interfere the others will stop us," Morgan argued.

"You mean if we try to clean up a galactic mess they will immediately step in and stop us?" Janus asked innocently.

"You know it's not that simple," Morgan protested. "They will stop us from changing things even if it was our people that caused the problem before we ascended."

"Yes because they have always been very reliable on that front," Janus said sarcastically. "You may recall how they stopped Oma from removing that thorn in the ass known as Anubis and were adamant that you should not help the Tau'ri use the Arc of Truth."

He snapped his fingers dramatically. "Oh wait that's right they didn't. They let you help the Tau'ri as long as it benefited them."

"The Ori were our problem to deal with," Morgan pointed out. "They had to be eliminated."

"So long as we didn't eliminate them personally," Janus argued. "And I note that the sangraal was never seen again after it was used."

"You know we couldn't just leave a weapon like that lying around," Morgan argued.

"But you were personally content with leaving the builder alive so that it could be built and then used in the first placed," Janus shot back.

"It was for the best," Morgan yelled.

"So is this," Janus yelled back.

Oma shook her head, sometimes it was like listening to an old married couple.

"Our people are responsible for this mess Morgan," Janus pointed out. "We lost the war with the Wraith because of our overconfidence so someone tried something risky and because of the misuse of this legacy multiple galaxies could be at risk."

"So we break all our rules and use our powers against them?" Morgan asked.

"Not unless it's necessary," Janus replied.

"If one does not make the journey to arrive at their destination then they lose more than they gain," Oma said sagely.

"Thank you Oma," Janus said gratefully. "I couldn't have put it better myself, but maybe more succinct."

"I'm really not in the mood Janus," Morgan said irritably. "So would you please just tell me what you mean?"

"We don't have to directly interfere," Janus explained. "We just need to lend a small hand and help them find the right path to take. They will do all the hard work and come out stronger because of it. Look at Concordia, because of this war they are coming together and helping each other. They are sharing their cultures, their knowledge and their experience to unite four galaxies. They are willing to fight for the freedoms of the people of this galaxy and you expect me to take that away from them? We don't have to fight this battle for them. We just need to make this war as short as possible."

"But how can we do that without interfering?" Morgan asked.

"By helping them find the right path," Janus said. "We can find where Zarin is hiding and point them in the right direction."

"That's it?" Morgan asked.

"For now," Janus said.

"For now?"

"If that is all that is needed, then yes."

"And if it isn't?"

"We'll see. Oh and don't give me that look, I'm only going from your play book."

"That is not true!"

"Yes it is and you know it. Or did you forget how you guided Daniel Jackson, gave Adria a bloody nose and healed Teal'c?"

"Fine," Morgan relented. "But that's all we're doing."

"On this plane," Janus agreed.

"Meaning?"

"We find out who left that little legacy in the first place," Janus replied.

"That I have no problem agreeing to," Morgan admitted.

"I myself would like to have a quiet word with whoever came up with that little idea," Oma said.

"Then let's get started," Janus finished.

* * *

**Zarasian Ship**

The SPECTREs, once they had beamed aboard, had slowly made their way through the ship searching for areas of interest. The moment they had beamed aboard they had taken in the very dim emergency lighting and staleness to the air. Or rather their sensors had taken in the stale air since they were all wearing full battle armour since they had had severe doubts about the quality of the air before they beamed aboard.

Since this was an entirely unfamiliar ship they decided to stick with the primary objectives first and check out the hatchery. Ideally they wanted to find the ship's bridge and engine room and seize complete control of the ship so that they could take it in for study, but their standing orders were quite clear. In the event that they discovered a potential link to what was being dubbed the Reaper Control Grid they were to secure it and immediately attempt a hack. The greatest priority at the moment was finding the locations of Zarasian assets since they had little information on that front. Right now the RCG was the best bet since the data recovered from the storage chip was proving to be scrambled beyond recognition or primarily containing technical data on the very ship they had captured. Admittedly progress was being made but it was slow going. In the mean time ISIS was conducting detailed scans of the ship hoping to locate an alternative to the hatchery, with the priority being on finding the bridge or computer core.

Slowly the SPECTREs crept along the ships corridors, their personal cloaking devices remaining active but the deck still trembled slightly as their heavy boots connected with each step. The hallways of the ship were dark, barely lit at all to the point that their suits had automatically activated minimal night vision capabilities to account for it.

On the shuttle they had been relaxed and slightly care free. But now they were on the ship and on a mission that care free attitude had vanished, replaced by a steely dedication to the mission. Their eyes were alert and constantly darting around to take in everything around them, ever wary of hidden dangers.

"Nothing on life signs sensors," Eir noted.

"We're about to enter the shielded section," Todd reported as they came to a large metal door at the end of the corridor.

"ISIS, power readings?" Sovaer asked.

By unspoken agreement the cyborg had taken charge of the group.

"Minimal, no change," ISIS reported over the comm.

"Teyla get the door please," Sovaer requested, while he and the others pointed their weapons at the door.

Teyla calmly obliged and pushed a button on the control panel causing the door to slide open and reveal…nothing. On the other side of the door was just another empty corridor. Cautiously the SPECTREs stepped through the doorway and into the corridor beyond.

"Scans still dry," Eir noted.

"I wonder if that's a good or a bad thing," Sovaer wondered aloud.

"Good question," Ronon grunted.

"No life signs mean either the shielding in this section is dampening the signatures or there is no one here," Eir pointed out.

"So we're either surrounded by hostiles and there's no clone, there's just a clone or there's no clone," Sovaer listed. "Wonderful."

"We won't know unless we continue on though," Teyla pointed out.

"ISIS," Sovaer said into his comm. "Do you have a lock on our positions."

"Local shielding appears to be dampening the individual signals of your beacons," ISIS replied. "However close proximity is allowing for them to breach the interference and for me to establish a lock."

"In other words we have to stay together if we want to do an emergency beam out," Todd summarised.

"You know this is sounding more and more like a trap," Sovaer stated.

"I'll say," Todd agreed.

"Ah well," Sovaer sighed. "As they say on Earth once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more."

With that the SPECTREs moved deeper and deeper into what they believed to be the ship's hatchery section.

As they travelled metre after metre they noted the strangeness of the section they had entered. Lining the twisting and turning corridor was door after door that had apparently been sealed shut, seemingly as a result of the ship entering this deadened state. Even forcing the doors had proved to be impossible and they didn't feel it was necessary to blow them open just yet. Not if those doors had been sealed for the reason that the entire ship had seemingly been abandoned. Seeing the very large door ahead of them, with its glowing control panel while the others before had been pitch black, did nothing to relieve their nervousness. Scans had revealed that all the other doors had denied them access to corridors leading to other areas of the hatchery which could only mean they were being led to this destination, quite possibly like lambs to the slaughter.

Exchanging worried looks the six of them moved forward to take the only route open to them. With the single push of a button the heavy armoured door in front of them slid open without the slightest hint of resistance. Inside was a room quite similar to the hatchery on the Zarasian flagship which had held the clone. But the dozen pods that lined this room were all empty and darkened. Cautiously, they crept into the room and to the containment pod that presumably contained another clone of Eurielle.

"Scans?" Sovaer asked.

"Still dry," Eir reported.

"Todd," Sovaer said.

The Wraith quickly approached the containment pod control panel and removed the cover. Pulling out a control crystal he replaced it with one of his own linking to a hand held computer and began working on electronically picking the lock. It must have been an odd sight to anyone else, seeing a cable leading to nowhere, since their personal cloaks were still active.

"Done," the Wraith said triumphantly as the computer in his hand beeped.

But instead of the containment pod door opening all hell broke loose.

"Power levels rising. Jamming field is active," ISIS reported just as the door to the room slammed shut and a liquid spray began pumping into the room.

"Liquid nitrogen!" Eir yelled.

"Jason, blow that door now!" Sovaer ordered.

While liquid nitrogen wouldn't affect them, since their suits would protect them, its deployment could mean only thing. This was definitely a trap and they were standing right in the middle of it.

Jason immediately switched from his rifle to his much more powerful energy cannon and fired at the armoured door. It held against the first shot but buckled after the second and was breached after the third. The door gave way not a moment too soon because a second later the liquid nitrogen in the air settled and the empty pods retracted, to be replaced by pods containing reapers.

But as the pods sprang open the reapers that emerged were not the same variety they had previously encountered. These were actual cyborgs. As they emerged from the pods only the right eye opened because the left was covered by a glowing green eyepiece. These cyborgs had their left forearm severed half way along and replaced by a long broadsword, glowing red hot. Their right meanwhile was severed nearer the wrist and replaced by a plasma weapon with an attached laser targeting device. As one the cyborgs turned to face their prey.

"Move!" Sovaer yelled.

The others didn't need to be prompted, the moment that the debris from the ruined door had settled they ran for the door as if the hounds of hell were nipping at their heels. In a way they were as the reaper abominations were close behind them, firing plasma bolts as they chased after their prey. Of course the dozen reaper cyborgs they faced were arguably no match for the combined might of the SPECTREs, even with their obvious enhancements. What really caused the SPECTREs to run with such vigour was the knowledge that since this was a trap there had to be more unseen dangers present than a mere dozen reapers.

It turned out that suspicion was correct as they dashed round corners only to come face to face with even more cyborgs that emerged from the formerly sealed doors. The SPECTREs didn't even miss a step and just continued running forwards while firing bursts from their various weapons at the enemies in front of them.

Sovaer took deep breaths as he surveyed the situation. For some reason these cyborg reapers seemed able to track him and his teams movements, which shouldn't have been possible with the Sodan cloaks hiding them from the visual spectrum and their suits hiding their body heat. Then he realised that the liquid nitrogen they had been sprayed with must have lowered the suits external temperature enough to make them register on the infra-red spectrum as abnormal cold spot. While normal reapers wouldn't be able to see them these cyborgs must be able to courtesy of their eyepieces. Cursing silently he continued running while watching the life sign count in the corner of his eye. More and more reapers were registering throughout this section and the number behind them was growing. At this point it was all they could do to stay ahead of them. What had him worried though wasn't the fact that there were cyborgs behind him but that the ship hadn't self destructed yet. Clearly whoever had set this up intended to capture them alive, or at least have something to examine after they were killed. He knew with some certainty that they needed to get back to the shuttle and fast. Unfortunately the only way to do that would be to hot wire a ring platform, which wasn't feasible with a reaper horde bearing down on you, or find an airlock. As it turned out this same thought was crossing the mind of every other SPECTRE present.

The reaper cyborgs however seemed to have other ambitions that conflicted with those of the SPECTREs. Just as it looked like they were about to make it out of the hatchery area a group of reapers dove through an open doorway on their right and tackled into the group, vaulting over the body of one of their dead doppelgangers. They only managed to stall the two stragglers of the group before they batted aside like so much dead weight, which they were after being riddled with plasma rounds, but that was enough to allow six more reapers to catch up and pile in.

Jason and Sovaer were the unlucky stragglers in this case. Sovaer because he had been the last out the door, and his insistence at covering their rear, and Jason because of his heavy bulk and the weight of his weapons. While the two were only slightly slower than the others in the long run it all added up.

Jason however, being the big brute that he was, was able to fight off two of the three reapers with the meat cleaver of a bayonet attached to his plasma rifle. The third hadn't even gotten as close as the other two before being riddled with holes from the very same plasma rifle. Sovaer was able to bring down one of his three assailants with several well aimed shots to the head but the other two slammed into him, glowing blades at the ready. Relying upon his artificial musculature to do the job he tried to force them off him but they determinably kept him pinned to the wall. He managed to impact the knee of one with his left foot, causing the reaper to stumble back. The cyborg responded by driving his left arm forwards and with a sickening crunch the burning blade cut straight through the soft part of his armour on his left leg and into the flesh and bone beneath. Immediately his artificial nervous system blocked the pain signals coming from his leg to stop him from losing control. It didn't however stop him from feeling light headed as the cyborg awkwardly wrapped its arms around his mutilated limb and ripped it away.

His eyes went wide with shock as he looked down to see his very own leg lying on the floor several feet away from him. The other SPECTREs had by now realised what had happened and were running back along the corridor to lend help.

"Just get out of here!" he yelled to Jason through gritted teeth.

The big Wraith, having now dispatched his assailants, simply shook his head in response.

His next actions seemed to last an eternity to Sovaer but in reality was barely more than a few seconds. With one swift movement Jason moved forwards and stamped the reaper on the ground into the decking. With one hand he levelled his energy cannon at the oncoming reaper mass and fired, before shouldering the weapon once again, while the other pointed his rifle at the dazed reaper on the floor and let loose a short burst. His now empty left hand reached out and yanked the cyborg pinning Sovaer to the wall back, momentum sending it slamming into the opposite wall, while his rifle came up and fired a short but deadly burst.

As the other SPECTREs surged past to provide covering fire Jason picked Sovaer up and unceremoniously tossed him over his shoulder before setting off down the corridor again.

With their comrade secure the other SPECTREs followed, occasionally turning back to fire off a few shots in a bid to slow the approaching horde.

"We can't keep this up," Ronon said eventually as they ran further and further through the ship.

They had reached what their scans said was the outer edge of the ship but had yet to find a single airlock, and at this point it they were beginning to doubt if they even would. They had lost count how many times the cyborgs had almost caught up with them before the SPECTREs put on a burst of speed to escape capture.

"We have no choice," Teyla stated, despite the fact that she agreed with him.

"I have an idea," Todd said hesitantly. "Deactivate your magnetic boots."

Not knowing his plan but trusting their comrade the others did as he requested.

"ISIS, blow up a hole in the ship 10 metres ahead of our current location," Todd ordered, to the others shock.

"Confirmed," ISIS replied.

"This had better work," Ronon growled.

The plan here was obvious. The loss of pressure the hull breach should result in them being sucked out into space and outside the jamming field, however if they weren't beamed aboard fast enough Sovaer would die from exposure to vacuum since his suit was now missing a leg.

Outside the ship the transport shuttle, under the direction of ISIS, zipped around the ship and fired a single shot from its nose mounted twin heavy X-699. The plasma bolt was powerful enough to rip through the Zarasian armour plating and breached the hallway ahead of the SPECTREs. Any air in the hallway was immediately sucked out by the vacuum and the SPECTREs felt the tug as they were propelled forwards and out through the gaping hole, with the cyborg reapers not far behind.

One moment they had been running along the corridor and the next they found themselves staring at stars and the black of space.

As a mass of shapes poured out from the wound in the side of the ship a little way out seven flashes of white light appeared simultaneously. Shortly after the transport shuttle turned away from the Zarasian ship and dived into a hyperspace window.

Onboard the transport shuttle the SPECTREs appeared several feet in the air and for a brief moment they hung there, right before artificial gravity brought them slamming into the decking.

"Todd you crazy half bug, that was completely nuts," Sovaer scolded, lying prone on the decking, too weak to move.

"Certainly worked though," Eir reminded him, while lowering her healing devices to his stump of a leg.

"How is he?" Todd asked, visibly concerned for the other man's safety.

"He'll live," Eir assured him, while continuing to work her magic with the healing devices.

"Sleep now," she whispered softly, as she waved the device over his head, causing him to slip into unconsciousness.

"Can you do something for him?" Teyla asked, equally concerned.

"I already am," Eir replied, as she continued to work on his leg. "I'm attempting to repair what I can but that isn't really much."

"What about his leg?" Ronon asked. "Can you give him a prosthetic?"

"Not with the equipment I have on hand here," Eir replied. "Besides a replacement isn't even an option at this point."

"Why not?" Teyla asked with a frown.

"Because of the damage done to his leg," Eir said as her healing devices shut down. "Look you just see the damage from the outside, not beneath the surface like I can."

"How bad is it?" Todd asked.

"For starters a good part of the muscular tissue around his knee cap has been ripped off while the rest is barely hanging onto the actual knee cap," Eir explained. "When those things cut through his leg they only went about two thirds of the way through and dented the bone. They then snapped the bone in half and ripped the rest of the muscle away. My scans indicate micro-tears along the entire length of his leg muscles as a result. Luckily any bleeding was reduced by the fact that the sheer heat of the blade that cut him cauterised the wound."

"Why was he in so much pain?" Todd asked. "I thought he had pain inhibitors to suppress any pain."

"He does," Eir confirmed. "But they weren't designed to deal with this kind of pain. He was in utter agony, and while they blocked out some of it they couldn't stop it all. They were meant to stop light wounds, not injuries that by all rights should have rendered him unconscious. I've eased his pain and fixed up what I could but a lot of work needs to be done before he can be given a replacement."

"A replacement?" Teyla asked quizzically.

Eir sighed. "The Vanir rebuilt his body, and I don't mean repaired but literally rebuilt from scratch. Bone, muscle, nerve fibres, blood vessels, skin, you name it they grew it and put the pieces together to make him a whole new body. They can easily manufacture the component parts to make a new leg and then attach it to that stump. They probably even have the base materials sitting in a research lab right now and only need to put them together."

"It's that easy?" asked Ronon.

"To make the leg, yes," Eir confirmed. "Reattaching it however is going to be the hard part, but nothing they haven't had to do before."

The others remained in thoughtful silence while Eir continued her monologue.

"I wouldn't mind taking part in the procedure myself actually," she continued as she picked him up in her arms and carried him to the medical bay. "It should be most informative."

* * *

**Unknown Location**

"Etere the team from the transport ship have sent in their report."

"And?"

"Your prediction was correct Etere. They sent in their infiltration team to scout out the ship when they suspected it was a trap."

"Were they captured?"

"No Etere, when they realised it was a trap they attempted to flee with our forces in pursuit. They damaged the hull and were pulled into vacuum. Sensors indicate bursts of energy and we lost track of them on sensors, our scientists suspect a type of matter relocation technology similar to our ring platforms."

"Ranged matter relocation technology, interesting. Were they alive?"

"We believe so Etere, however recordings suggest the one known as Sovaer was present and was critically wounded. His left leg was severed."

"Oh dear, Sovaer was unfortunate wasn't he. Good news for us though. Have Cyber Azamoth prepare for phase three and inform me the moment he is ready for the procedure."

"As you command Etere."

* * *

**Please Review.**


	57. Technological Advances

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Zarin knows he faces an enemy with technology superior to what he currently possesses. Taking that into account he will be making sure to have a few tricks up his sleeve.**

**Cdoctor: They will have to be careful about how they play their cards in the future, but sometimes all it takes is a small intervention for massive consequences.**

**Oddliver: Can't say i know that one but i have heard about it. The Zarasian ship probably wasn't such a house of horrors though.**

**Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**Monsterjeffbuk: I might have to disappoint you but please be patient.**

** chainreader: In this one they knew what they were in for, but who expected the invisible soldiers to be spotted.**

**stormwolf3710: Thank you.**

**BIG Z1776: Maybe you meant the chapter before last because that was the action chapter.**

* * *

Since their arrival on New Lucia the Lucians had found themselves in a strange and unfamiliar environment which was a stark contrast to their former world. Here a daily fight for survival had been turned into a comfortable lifestyle, and they were in no hurry to change that. Plans were in place for them to make further strides towards independence but for now the Lucians were content to enjoy themselves and rest their weary bodies before making their lives more complicated. There would come a time though when the Asgard would cut off their support and force the Lucians to stand on their own while remaining under their protection.

The Tollan survivors had also settled onto New Lucia but their personal pride and the knowledge of what it felt like to possess an advanced civilisation had driven them to expand beyond the initial confines the Asgard had set down. Once they had settled down and licked their wounds they had set about restoring themselves to power. They had built hydroponics to produce food all year round and even limited manufacturing facilities. But now though they were looking to become a dominant power. The first order of business was acquiring resources to build a greater infrastructure, which namely consisted of trinium. Given their current lack of possessions short of what they could create using the small matter synthesiser provided to them by the Tau'ri the only choice had been to mine for them. When the Tau'ri had gifted the Tollan with the use of that small matter synthesiser they had expected them to use it for small personal items. Instead the Tollan had used it to create the components for small mining and construction robots, which they had quickly put to use.

Mining for resources on a shared planet however caused immediate conflict when the Lucians found out. The Asgard had quickly stepped in an attempt to act as mediators but talks had quickly broken down when the Tollan, subtly directed by Travell from the shadows, kept pushing for more territory than the Lucians were willing to give. Then the Tollan had played their trump card. Since they were now in a position to stand on their own without support, with their people healthy and their base industry restored, they were arguably capable of surviving on their own. Tollan pride was apparently a driving force that allowed for an inexplicably fast recovery time, although many people favoured the opinion that the advanced technology used by their rescuers. The Asgard had eventually relented and agreed to relocate the Tollan settlement to another world while keeping it exactly the same as it was now, Asgard watchtower included. However if they wished to be independent, while still being protected until they could build suitable defences of their own, then they would have to give up the matter synthesiser. It was a heavy toll for the Tollan to pay but given they had been rescued and offered its initial use for nothing it was a fair price.

The Asgard however weren't happy that the Tollan had constantly nagged them and their allies even after all the help that had been freely given. So they took a certain amount of pleasure in reminding the Tollan just how primitive they were in comparison to their noble and ancient race by carefully selecting the planet to which they would be relocated. In order to let the message sink in deep enough there was only one choice that would be appropriate, Tollana. Using technology well in advance of anything the Tollan had in their possession the Asgard had restored the damaged world to its former state of natural beauty. The atmosphere had been scrubbed clean, the waters purified and the indigenous flora restored. To say the Tollan had been surprised when they were told the name of the lush green world they had been relocated to was an understatement. The Asgard had even kindly provided a stargate for the Tollan to use, an act of which they were very much grateful since the Nox had taken back the knowledge on how to build a functional equivalent.

* * *

**Tollana**

The Tollan had comfortably settled back onto their old world and had already begun to make use of their brief time there. The Asgard had rebuilt their settlement in a valley not too far from the site of their former city. Acting on this knowledge the Tollan had dispatched their mining robots to search through the massive pile of debris that had remained for raw resources untouched by the Tau'ri sweep. Large amounts of refined trinium and crystal fragments were recovered with ease and incredible speed as the industrious robots worked tirelessly.

Meanwhile construction robots were hard at work further expanding the Tollan infrastructure to increase production beyond the meagre amounts currently possible. Massive hydroponics facilities were being laid down, alongside automated factories that could build the individual components for all manner of devices and even the framework for a shipyard was taking shape. Priority had of course been given to the factories since they would produce the components needed for additional mining and construction robots but things were moving along quite quickly.

In orbit above the restored world a hyperspace window opened and spat out the _Enterprise_. The flagship of the Milky Way fleet was here for a special purpose today, negotiating with the Tollan for a technology exchange. Ten years ago the Tollan would have laughed at the idea, several years ago the Tollan were thought lost but the unheard laughter was still deafening to the Tau'ri. Now though things had changed greatly. The Tau'ri were a powerful race, they had been named the fifth race by the Asgard and were now the founding members of the new Alliance of Great Races, not that the Tollan were privy to this knowledge yet. Until the Tollan were deemed ready to take their place in the galaxy once again the Asgard had chosen not to inform them in order to protect them from their own pride. It was feared that if the Tollan thought they were falling behind those they considered primitive they might act rashly in an attempt to catch up with them.

From the hanger under the nose of the flagship a small silvery craft emerged, drive pods extending before it descended into the planet's atmosphere. The craft was the latest of Tau'ri innovations and bore a striking resemblance to a puddle jumper. This craft's hull was much smoother and sleek than the patterned hull of a puddle jumper. The craft was the product of the sharing of Averian shuttle blue prints combined with Tau'ri ingenuity, and in function and practise the craft was very similar to a puddle jumper. It possessed a gate dialling device capable of working in whatever galaxy they might be deployed in, a compliment of NPD's, inertial dampeners, shields, cloak and even plasma weapons in the nose. While in reality they were mere imitations they were still a highly capable craft in practise.

Onboard the jumper, aside from the pilots and a small armed escort, was Daniel Jackson. He would be personally conducting the negotiations for the technology exchange and it was hoped his previous experience in dealing with the Tollan would be a boon in this endeavour. Onboard the _Enterprise_, which served as his personal office these days, was Lt General Jack O'Neill. He would not be taking part in these negotiations personally but he would be on hand to see them carried out immediately. The reason for this was rather obvious to those aware of the current political Tollan climate and a little history. The former Chancellor, Travell, and General O'Neill did not respond well to one another when in each other's company after the incident that had led to the devastation of Tollan civilisation. Travell personally blamed him for the end result and he hated her for being willing to destroy his world to temporarily save her own. Ten years had served to wither that hatred a good deal but their haphazard reunion had disturbed the waters. Jack was perfectly content if she slunk off into a dark corner and was never seen or heard from again. Unfortunately the universe isn't always that kind and Travell had certainly not been content with taking retirement. After the phase bomb incident, in which she had taken lead, she had been forced to step down as leader of the curia but she was far from out of the picture. She still possessed considerable sway with the other members of the curia and had managed to maintain a certain measure of power. She was also determined to stick her beak into every matter concerning the future of the Tollan, which included the technology exchange negotiations.

When the Earth made puddle jumper touched down on the green land just outside the expanding Tollan city they were treated to a wonderful view of the construction projects under way. Already the framework of the new shipyard was taking shape and flittering small shapes of construction robots could be seen flying around the skeletal structure. Upon arrival he was quickly escorted to the designated meeting room for these negotiations. As he walked through the city he felt a wave of nostalgia, the happy smiling inhabitants seemed much more like their old selves and it was almost as if he was walking through the old Tollan city. The Tollan had made great progress as of late and were well on the way to full infrastructural recovery.

As he entered the meeting room he was once again reminded of the old Tollan city, since it was an exact duplicate of the meeting room used whenever Earth delegates had previously visited this world. Presiding over this meeting was Narim the official representative of the Tollan people, arguable stand in Chancellor and, if the rumours were correct, the favourite in the upcoming election. Also present was Travell, who was wearing a stern expression at having to take a position as a mere watcher. Daniel couldn't help but think that battle axe, as Jack liked to think of her, was getting to be more and more appropriate every day.

"Welcome back to Tollana Doctor Jackson," Narim said warmly.

"Thank you Narim," Daniel replied. "It is nice to see how much progress you have made in restoring your civilisation."

"We have come far in such a short time," Narim agreed. "However such would not have been possible without the assistance of you and your allies. My people owe you a great debt."

Daniel could swear the air around Travell had seemed to steam slightly at that last comment and he resisted the urge to chuckle.

"We only did what would be expected of us to do," Daniel replied smoothly. "I believe that in accordance with your own laws these talks are being recorded?"

"An audio and visual copy will be stored in the public Tollan database," Narim replied. "We wouldn't want to betray the public trust by not allowing them to know what they have a right to know."

"Would it be possible for my people to get a copy?" Daniel asked. "General O'Neill would like to have a complete record of these negotiations rather than reading a report."

"Of course," Narim said. "That is the least we can do for you."

The last comment had managed to rile Travell up.

"I would have thought that if General O'Neill considered these negotiations that important he might have attended himself," she said, with an edge to her voice.

"Unfortunately being in a position of power takes up much of his time," Daniel replied. "He thought it best to defer the negotiations to someone with more experience. If you really think it necessary I could get him to beam down here."

"That won't be necessary Doctor Jackson," Narim stated before Travell could reply.

"Well now that that is out of the way let's get on with the negotiations," Daniel said.

"We have reviewed your request," Narim said. "Your people have advanced significantly technologically as of late. However you must understand our reluctance to part with this particular technology given the danger of its misuse."

"We understand that," Daniel said. "However you must admit that any technology has the potential to be misused."

"That is true," Narim admitted. "But we must ask what you intend to use the technology for?"

"Are you going to use it to make weapons?" Travell asked bluntly, causing Narim to cringe slightly.

"Potentially we hope it to replicate the phase technology for our drone weapons," Daniel admitted. "However there are many other applications for this technology that we hope to explore."

"But first you plan to weaponise it," Travell said bitterly.

Narim shot her a stern look.

"We already have working examples of the phase technology used in the drones," Daniel explained. "Eventually we could go about replicating it however we believe that understanding the principles behind the technology is better than simply copying it."

"Arguably though that is more dangerous than the technology itself," Narim pointed out. "There is only so much you can do with the technology you could build but the complete knowledge of its inner workings could be used for anything."

"However it is also safer since we will understand how to use, potentially fix it and realise what can go wrong with it," Daniel argued. "I should also point out that according to the proposal we simply asked for a basic knowledge of the technology."

"How basic are you willing to settle for?" Narim asked.

"What we have found when a technology is first researched is that the initial working example is rather large, inefficient and doesn't work for very long," Daniel said. "Would that be the same in your case?"

"Yes it is," Narim said.

"Then I believe that would be appropriate," Daniel said.

"What would you be willing to offer in exchange?" Travell asked surprisingly pleasantly.

"We would be willing to provide you with hyperdrive technology similar to the Goa'uld standard," Daniel replied. "With your more advanced power generation your ships would be much faster than ships of equal size."

"When would you be willing to make the transaction?" Travell asked, while Narim was distracted searching through the Tollan database trying to figure out what angle Travell was working.

"As soon as the agreement is finalised," Daniel replied. "So ideally immediately."

"Would you be willing to provide a built model with the design plans?" Travell asked politely.

"We would," Daniel said, though he was beginning to become suspicious of her motives himself.

"That certainly sounds reasonable," Travell said. "Are you willing to officially say that you will agree to these terms?"

"Doctor Jackson," Narim interrupted before Daniel could speak, causing Travell to shoot him a look. "Before you answer you should know that the most basic working example of the technology is rather large, far too large to be placed on your drone weapons and cannot be used by people. Also in practise it only worked for a very short period of time."

"How large exactly?" Daniel asked to their surprise.

"Pardon?" Travell asked.

"How large exactly is this device?" Daniel asked politely.

"About man sized," Narim replied since Travell had gone silent.

"But that would include a full explanation on the design principles of the technology which would eventually allow us to greatly improve the design?"

"Yes it would," Narim admitted.

"Then I think that would be appropriate," Daniel said with a smile. "And I think we can agree with the terms of this exchange."

Daniel noted the gob smacked look Travell was now wearing and was very glad that the whole meeting was being recorded.

"I'll have the hyperdrive and the design plans sent down to you immediately," Daniel said as he rose from his seat.

"And I will have the designs for the phase device prepared for you," Narim replied curtly. "Along with the recording of this meeting."

"Thank you," Daniel said, before striding out of the room with a smile on his face.

* * *

**_Enterprise_**

"Well Daniel how did we do?" Jack asked.

"Pretty good," Daniel said. "I got us the most basic piece of working phase technology in exchange for a Goa'uld hyperdrive and the design plans. Oh and I also got us a copy of the meetings recording."

"How did Travell take it?" Jack asked with a grin of his own.

"Pretty well when she thought she was conning us by giving us an oversized piece of junk," Daniel replied.

"How oversized?" Jack asked.

"Man sized," Daniel replied.

"Pretty big then compared to their hand held versions," Jack noted seriously.

"Oh definitely," Daniel replied.

Both men sat there wearing serious expressions and in silence for a few moments before they both broke down laughing.

"And to think I would have bet money on it being at least the size of a truck," Jack managed.

"I know I said at least the size of a car," Daniel agreed as the last of the laughter died out.

"The boys in Hellstorm will certainly be happy," Jack noted. "Less space means we can fit more of them. I just wish I could have seen the look on Travell's face."

"Why do you think I asked for the recording?"

"Thank you for that."

"No problem."

"I'll have them send down the hyperdrive right away. Once we have the designs we'll head to the Alpha Site, then we can drop off our guest."

* * *

**Argus Shipyards**

Activity in the actual shipyard was rather limited as of late. Ships were still being constructed but to a much lesser degree than before. The greatest priority was currently being given to construction of the new puddle jumpers and ship design implementation research and the majority of the resource flow had directed to the Night Fury yards orbiting Langara.

From his engineers office in the main yard Colonel Pierce had a spectacular view of the two ships under construction. The main yard had actually recently finished being expanded. With the reappearance of the Asgard and the new ships they were building it was realised that a bigger yard would be needed to accommodate ships as large as the O'Neill class. To that end the main yard had now doubled in width and had been extended by half. Thanks to the addition of a collapsible partition two vessels of the Pegasus class or ships of a similar size could be constructed simultaneously, which was a great asset to have.

Through his window he could see the shapes of two ships under construction. One was barely a skeleton of a ship, consisting only of the very basic framework. In its current form it was hardly a recognizable ship at all. The forward part of the ship was reminiscent of a kunai blade much higher than it was wide, while the smaller rear part of the ship looked like the wing section of the Night Fury class. It was interesting Pierce noted, that when you looked at the bare bones of a ship there is so much potential available. Anything at all could be placed in the internal space or lining those bones. The other ship was in a much later stage of construction, so much so that the end product was now quite apparent even Pierce knew exactly what it would be since he had approved the construction schedule.

At a glance it appeared to be a vessel of the Pegasus or Nightingale class, but if you looked more closely you would see the obvious differences. For one this ship had much larger side hanger bays that ran almost the entire length of the ship, allowing for a much greater number of fighters to be carried at the cost of the six side APB emplacements. In addition to this the railgun emplacements had been replaced with heavy X-699's, with the side mounts now running along the top and bottom of the hanger bays. Clearly this was a whole new kind of ship. This ship was known as the _Sagittarius_ and she was of the carrier class.

All the attention however was not on the ships currently under construction. Instead that honour was given to the ship comfortably resting in the orbiting city ship dock, that being the only dock they had available to hold a ship as massive as the _Tria_. After all these years she had finally been recovered from the void and brought in for study, repair and even possibly upgrading. One thing that everyone agreed on was that the Ancients never did anything small. _Atlantis_ and her sister _Borealis_ were a testament to that, being cities capable of relocating to another galaxy if necessary. The _Tria_ itself was a massive craft, over 3km long, and had been built during the height of the war against the Wraith. It possessed powerful shielding, large amounts of storage space solely dedicated to holding drone weapons, generators on par with the Asgard equivalent, hundreds of stasis pods for the crew, automated systems allowing for a small crew and powerful sublight engines. Her drone stores were running a little low though and her hyperdrive had been completely ruined in her last battle, but that wouldn't have mattered much anyway. The Ancients had, rather wisely as it happened, fitted their ships with interplanetary hyperdrives rather than intergalactic ones. While they were admittedly much slower it did mean that the Wraith hadn't been able to steal that particular technological secret when they captured ships in the hopes of acquiring ZPM's. If they had been capable of intergalactic travel the Wraith would have set foot in the Milky Way galaxy a long time ago.

Despite all the amazing technology the Ancients possessed when it came to designing a warship they were somewhat lacking. The Aurora class, as the Tau'ri called it, were believed to have been the frontline warship of the Ancients during their war against the Wraith. Yet despite this by Tau'ri standards they had not been designed effectively. The main weapon of the _Tria_ was her drone weapons, powerful weapons certainly, but eventually they would run out when faced with the numbers of the Wraith and the force multipliers that were darts. The _Tria_ could have taken on a fleet of hive ships single handed but once the drones ran out she would relatively defenceless. Lacking energy weapons of any truly significant power she would eventually be overwhelmed and that was exactly what had happened. Perhaps, Pierce reflected, that was just a result of the different thought processes compared to those the Tau'ri had developed. Drone weapons were undoubtedly a powerful weapon, capable of taking on any number of threats from fighters to the mightiest capital ships. The Ancients had essentially created a weapon capable of taking on all comers but the Tau'ri didn't think like that. Rather than have a single weapon capable of taking on multiple enemies, their warships, what they defined as real warships, possessed a large variety of weapons of varying strengths and suitability. That variety allowed them to take on multiple threats without an inefficient use of energy. It was a waste to destroy a single fighter with a weapon capable of systematically crippling or destroying a capital ship after all.

Despite this though the _Tria_ was an absolute wealth of information on Ancient technology for them to study and the yard dogs were giddy with excitement. One powerful piece of technology that had been recovered was a control chair from the secondary control room, which had been shipped back to Earth for use as a back-up in case the other was destroyed. The highly valuable drones meanwhile would be used to replenish the Earth stores. It was hoped that someday the research into phase devices would be completed. Then they could finally give their drone weapons the ability to pass through any kind of shielding, not just the weaker variety. However they had been able to derive a way to generate a high intensity plasma field around them in order to bore their way through enemy armour. All drone weapons carried by the entire fleet were the Mark II variety which featured these upgrades. The Mark III variety would hopefully feature a miniaturised phase device. The boys in research had high hopes that it would only be a matter of time to achieve this aim. While the phase device was a very powerful device it was constructed using less advanced technology than what they currently had at their disposal. With an understanding of the design principles involved it would simply come down to rebuilding the devices using the miniaturised, yet still just as effective, technology.

The real question though was what to do with the _Tria_ once the hyperdrive had been replaced, that is if they wanted to replace it. The potential possibilities were so numerous it gave Michael a headache to think about, so he was glad that he didn't have to. Potentially they could attempt to rebuild the ship to its previous specifications, slow hyperdrive and all, while restocking the drone stores with their own Mark II NPD's. They could upgrade the hyperdrive to one capable of intergalactic travel. They could add Grodin, APB, ICT, X-699 and railgun emplacements so that she wasn't overly reliant on drones if they wanted to.

For now though the priority was getting the ship back up and running again. Scans, when combined with repairs performed and schematics taken from the computer core, would allow them to gain a better understanding of what made the ship tick. Future plans saw her being sent to Pegasus to at the very least act as a drone platform for Concordia. Current plans however involved a full damage assessment before determining what the best course of action would be. If the ship was determined to be in decent condition they would conduct repairs and send her to Concordia where she would receive upgrades. If she was in need of an overhaul though they would kill two birds with one stone and perform a full upgrade along with the repairs. With the upgrades the Tria would become a real warship with much more bite than her drones alone offered.

* * *

**Zarasian Lab**

Pods lined the long walls of this room, each containing a cybernetically enhanced reaper. At the end of the room a single pod stood upright in the room and in front it stood Cyber Lord Azamoth. With a hiss of escaping gas the pod cracked open and revealed a Zarin resting inside. His eyes snapped open as he quickly regained consciousness and he stepped out of the pod, clad only in his underwear. Despite all reason his flesh was completely unmarked, not a scar or a hair marked his body, and it clung tightly to his strong muscles.

"It is done Etere," Azamoth said gleefully.

"Yes I can tell," Zarin said, admiring and flexing his muscles. "I already feel stronger…faster. You have done well."

"Thank you Etere."

"My soldiers?"

"At your command Etere."

"And my ship?"

"I am told it is ready to launch."

"Excellent."

"Come Azamoth your new lab awaits."

"Yes Etere."

"It is time to go to war," Zarin said finally, as he smiled a predatory grin and his irises glowed red.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	58. An invitation to play Galactic Chess

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: The device was the gift, not the technology. And it wasn't really a gift, they were just allowed to use it. The Tria is going to need a lot of work to bring it up to Tau'ri warship standards. She's big but she isn't bad. Zarin is aiming for galactic conquest, quite possibly even intergalactic conquest, so he expects a fight.**

**Cdoctor: People asked what happened to the Tollan, i answered.**

**Oddliver: If they are stupid enough to try something like that with only a few thousand people and inferior technology they deserve what would happen to them.**

**Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**romanhellhound: It's war on a galactic scale. Needless to say it is going to be messy. That's why they tried to evacuate the natives, to keep them out of harms way.**

**Naginator: Thank you.**

**Monsterjeffbuk: The board is set, the pieces are moving. Conflict is inevitable.**

**stormwolf3710: Thanks, i wonder what people got out of those descriptions.**

**BIG Z1776: The Zarasians still have many cards left that the allies have never seen. A land battle will be coming eventually, it will just take time.**

**Guest: The replicators played key roles in both series however and were for a time the main enemies of certain seasons. Aiden Ford isn't a subject i have given much thought to. I could theoretically bring him back but at this point and with everything that has happened...i'll think about it. The way my story is going it's all about the big picture, with a few smaller pictures featured from time to time. Right now though i am starting to focus more on the war because that is the precidence and at the end of the day it all comes together to form the big picture. That is the difference between a book and a tv series, if you don't like the story you really shouldn't be reading it. I really would like to have this conversation with you just to find out exactly what you mean, so could you create an account please so that we can.**

* * *

**_Enterprise_**

The flagship of the Milky Way fleet soared through hyperspace at an incredible velocity. In little to no time she would reach her destination, the Tok'ra Homeworld. On the bridge of the powerful vessel Jack and Daniel waited for the journey to come to an end.

"So how is our guest doing?" Jack asked.

"Better now that she has had a chance to catch up on recent events," Daniel replied. "It was a lot for her to take in."

"Sometimes I still can't believe it myself," Jack replied with a thoughtful look.

"That we have come this far or that we actually overthrew the System Lords despite the odds?" Daniel said.

"Both," Jack said. "When I first stepped through that gate I knew that my personal universe had just gotten that much bigger. And when we encountered Ra and found out about the other Goa'uld I thought we had opened Pandora's Box. I've known battles over small scraps of dirt that lasted for what seems like forever. I hoped, I prayed even, that I would live to see the end of this war but I thought it would take far longer than a decade of service."

"I wonder what odds the bookies would have given us." Daniel said jokingly.

Jack smiled. "There wouldn't be enough money in the world if I only bet a nickel."

Daniel laughed.

Both men turned as they heard the door to the bridge gently slide open. A young woman in sand coloured robes cautiously entered. With her long dark hair and high cheek bones she looked quite beautiful, but her eyes gave off a sense of age that defied her young looks.

"Am I allowed be here?" she asked cautiously when she noticed the two men looking at her.

"Of course," Jack answered. "Just don't press any of the buttons."

"Of course," she replied, earning a small smile from Jack. "How long until we arrive?"

"It shouldn't be long," Daniel said, just as the ship exited hyperspace.

"Practically no time at all," O'Neill quipped.

"This vessel is indeed fast," she noted.

"Very," Jack agreed.

As the _Enterprise_ approached the Tok'ra world several Ha'tak vessels moved to intercept. Somehow the Tok'ra had managed to acquire a dozen vessels of the type B configuration over the years to guard their world.

"The Tok'ra vessels are transmitting a message," ISIS informed them.

"Put it on speakers," Jack ordered.

"Unidentified vessel, you have entered Tok'ra space. Identify yourselves immediately or you will be fired upon."

"This is Lt. General Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri vessel Enterprise," Jack said. "We have a meeting scheduled with your High Council. We are transmitting IFF and clearance codes now."

"IFF acknowledged. Codes confirmed. You are clear to proceed."

"So do you want us to beam you straight down?" Jack asked the mysterious woman.

"They have never seen a vessel like this one before have they?" she asked. "That is why they did not recognise it."

"No, so far they have only seen one of our lighter battlecruisers," Jack answered. "These vessels have been on recon missions in deep space in this galaxy since we built them so they haven't had a chance to encounter them."

"Can this ship safely enter into a planets atmosphere?" she asked.

"It can," Jack asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Then I request that you take us into the atmosphere and put us over the city," she requested.

"Why?" Daniel asked, confused.

"So that the Tok'ra can see what she looks like," Jack replied.

"They should see what the Tau'ri are capable of building," the woman said.

Jack sighed. "Okay fine but only because you asked nicely. You're going to be the one explaining this to them though."

"Of course," she said.

"Take us in," Jack ordered.

"Aye sir."

Carefully, the _Enterprise_ descended into the atmosphere. A blazing fireball around her shields took shape as a result of her steep entry angle and high speed. It wasn't long before the ship came to rest over the Tok'ra city. If you looked out the window you could see people so small they looked like ants emerge from the glimmering glass spires to look at the imposing vessel hovering above.

From the central pyramid the surviving members of the Tok'ra High Council emerged to study the Tau'ri ship.

"We clearly need to keep a better eye on the Tau'ri if they are capable of building such a ship," Per'sus noted as he eyed the numerous visible weapon emplacements. "Especially without our knowing."

"The Tau'ri have clearly come a long way with the Asgard on their side," Garshaw said.

"Perhaps but they are still an emotionally driven race that race to act," Delek said disapprovingly. "They act rashly even now."

"They should not have brought their ship into our atmosphere," Thoran agreed.

"The Tau'ri do not act without reason or cause," Malek argued. "They have done this for a reason, although I cannot say what that reason is."

A flash of white light appeared in the distance signifying arrival by transport beam.

"Come," Per'sus said. "It is time to find out what that reason is."

As the members of the High Council approached they observed an unfamiliar woman standing by several large containers that had been beamed down with her. Around her a crowd had gathered but none had yet approached her. To onlookers she did not seem to be a threat, if anything she seemed to acknowledge her surroundings with a sense of pride.

"Greetings, I am Per'sus. What is your name Tau'ri?"

The woman turned to look at him and smiled.

"Hello Per'sus. It is good to see you again. It has been far too long," the mysterious woman said.

Per'sus frowned. Clearly this woman knew him but he did not recognise her.

"He asked you a question Tau'ri," Delek snapped. "What is your name?"

"It is not surprising you would not recognise me my children," the woman replied, her voice taking on the deep tone of a symbiote. "And to be clear this host is not of the Tau'ri."

"Tok'ra kree," Malek commanded and several dozen zat guns and staff weapons were immediately raised at the woman. "Identify yourself Goa'uld."

"Goach, sha kree, lo Goa'uld," the woman replied, giving a Tok'ra password. "I have returned to you my children."

The eyes of the watching Tok'ra widened in shock.

"You are an imposter," Malek spat. "I saw Egeria die."

"Thanks to the Tau'ri I live again," Egeria replied calmly. "And I have been provided with a host without a consciousness."

"Prove it," Per'sus said indignantly, though his eyes held a glimmer of hope.

"When the Ashrak came for me you knew it was only a matter of time before they overcame you and my other children Per'sus but you would not run," she said, fixing Per'sus with a level stare. "I told you that the Tok'ra would need leadership if our kind was to survive. And we had to survive because the Goa'uld had to be stopped. Eventually you agreed but you promised that one day we would see each other again and on that day the Goa'uld and Ra would have fallen. You knew that was the only chance we had to be reunited."

Per'sus stood stunned. He could remember that day and those words like they were yesterday. He remembered how he stood alone with Egeria while outside his brethren fought a losing battle against the Ashrak that had infiltrated their base.

"That day has finally come my child," Egeria said with a gentle smile.

"My queen," Per'sus whispered. "Ra is dead and the Goa'uld Empire has fallen, we have won."

"Indeed you have," Egeria said. "However as I understand it not without help."

The Tok'ra flinched at that.

"The Tau'ri provided us with significant assistance in the final days it is true," Delek said. "However we were able to maintain the balance amongst the System Lords for several millennia, preventing one from overcoming the others."

"And yet in the end it was the Tau'ri and the Free Jaffa who finally freed the galaxy from the rule of the Goa'uld," Egeria said. "Ra, Hathor, Setesh, Heru'ur, Sokar, Cronus, Apophis and Ba'al, all of them before the Tau'ri and yet you still believe that they are less advanced than our kind."

"My Queen," Garshaw said. "We meant them no disrespect but when we first met them they were a primitive people who did not even possess ships of their own."

"Garshaw isn't it?" Egeria asked.

Garshaw nodded.

Egeria smiled warmly. "I am glad to know that I was not the only one to see the folly of the Goa'uld. What you say is true, the Tau'ri had limited technology to begin with but they have come very far indeed. They are a young race but they have striven to overcome the obstacles they face and use their newly acquired knowledge to help others. It was with that knowledge that I was returned to you."

"And we are most grateful for that," Thoran stated. "Our numbers have dwindled significantly over the centuries past. We are a shadow of what we once were."

"And yet you have built all this," Egeria said, gesturing at the glimmering structures around her. "You have accomplished so much in the time I was gone."

"My Queen," said Per'sus. "What is in those containers?"

"A gift from the Tau'ri," Egeria said. "One that will ensure that we never want for hosts again. You should know I was deeply saddened to learn that you thought yourselves so desperate that you demanded hosts from the Tau'ri as part of your alliance. That is not our way."

"My Queen," Garshaw protested. "At the time we simply wished the Tau'ri to show that they were willing to work with us and would not eventually turn on us because we were like the Goa'uld. It was a matter of trust."

"The ideals I instilled into your minds should have been enough of a guarantee that they would not," Egeria stated flatly. "You were lucky that the man who volunteered for the blending did so willing or I shudder to think what might have happened to Selmak's mind as a result. You should know that the memories of Selmak and Jacob Carter are held in high regard by the Tau'ri."

"They were a great loss to our kind," Per'sus said, taking the hint.

"A great loss indeed," Egeria agreed, with a look of sadness. "Now you asked what was in the containers. The answer is simple, technology. The same technology that allowed for my return and the creation of a host without a consciousness like the one I now inhabit, cloning."

"The technology Ba'al used to create so many copies of himself?" Per'sus asked, remembering the headache that had caused.

"The very same," Egeria replied. "Thanks to this technology, as well as samples of my DNA the Pangarans had in their possession, I was reborn."

Echidna looked upwards and waved at the ship. In response to the signal Jack appeared as a hologram in front of her.

"If there is anything you need from us don't hesitate to call Egeria," Jack said.

"Thank you General," Egeria said warmly. "But your people have already done far too much for us as it is. Please feel free to ask us for anything you might require."

"Will do," Jack said.

His hologram faded and the _Enterprise_ began to climb into orbit.

"Remember the look of that vessel my children," Egeria said. "The Tau'ri have many more like her and as the years go by we will be seeing more and more of them amongst the stars."

* * *

**Vanir**** City**

In the physical therapy area of the city hospital Sovaer was finally up and about again after his crippling injury. Well injury was arguably putting it lightly seeing as he had lost almost an entire leg during the last mission but in this case it had been nothing more than an inconvenience. A few hours of diligent surgery courtesy of trained Vanir specialists and his new leg had been successfully attached and he was back on his feet again. While the procedure to attach the leg had been simple adjusting to it was not so simple. Essentially he was using nerves he had never used before and in order to get the nerve attachments to stabilise he needed to slowly stimulate them. The scar from the attachment wasn't visible on his skin but it was present on his bones, muscles and nerves.

Under the supervision of Eir, who found it inconvenient to switch out of her combat body, he was slowly walking around the room. As time went by he would gradually increase the pace until he reached a light jog, which he continued to maintain for several minutes. It was while he was at this speed that Jakose entered the room.

"Feeling better then?" Jakose asked lightly.

"Much," Sovaer replied, increasing his speed.

"Well I can't blame you for getting hurt this time since I approved the mission," Jakose admitted. "And I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that you of all people would manage to get hurt."

Sovaer ground to a halt and turned to look at his friend.

Eir switched her gaze between the two of them for a few moments before coming to a decision.

"That's enough for today," she said as she walked out of the room. "Take it easy until tomorrow."

"Thank you Eir," Jakose said gratefully, receiving a nod of acknowledgement in return.

Sovaer studied his friend. On the surface he appeared calm and at ease but he had known him long enough to look beyond the mere surface. The eyes are said to be a window into the soul and Jakose had troubled eyes. Sovaer realised that he knew. He knew that he had told Jason to leave him behind so that the others could escape. At the time it had been the logical decision, especially since he would only have been captured and not killed but he knew that Jakose wouldn't see it that way. He probably blamed himself for what had happened. Jakose had admitted that he had approved the mission and couldn't blame him.

Sovaer sighed and went to sit down on one of the benches lining the room. Picking up a towel he patted his hand down lightly. In silence Jakose came and sat down next to him.

"You really can't blame yourself for this one you know," Sovaer said.

"I know," Jakose replied. "But I still feel guilty that you lost a leg."

Sovaer shrugged. "I have a new one. Besides to me losing a leg isn't that bad. Hurt like hell but nothing life threatening. Rather like a nasty paper cut."

Jakose laughed at that. "A paper cut?"

"I told you, I'm a cyborg. It takes a lot more than a lost limb to slow me down."

"Or a potential suicide mission it seems."

"Oh please, suicide missions are my day job."

"Oh really," Jakose said with a wry grin. "Perhaps we should start calling the SPECTREs the canaries then."

Sovaer groaned. "For a man supposedly so busy you know far too many Earth cultural references."

"I also know Murphy's Law was on your side in this case," Jakose added.

"That's true," admitted Sovaer. "Although I never thought Murphy's Law would work in our favour. Or that it would apply to traps laid down by the enemy."

"Hope springs eternal," Jakose replied.

"Please enough already," Sovaer pleaded. "You're making me jealous."

"Then let's go and watch a movie," Jakose suggested. "You are supposed to be resting."

"Fine but I'm choosing. You think it's suspicious that Zarin hasn't made a major move yet too right?"

"Oh definitely. The allied commanders are expecting it to hit the fan any day now. I wonder what he's planning."

Sovaer shrugged. "It's obvious, wiping us out. The real question is when and where he'll strike next. The problem is there is nothing we can do about that."

* * *

**Unknown Location**

Zarin actually had far grander plans than the others realised. It would surprise to know that the others thought he would plan a strike on a single target when it was far more effective to launch multiple strikes simultaneously.

He had originally dispatched large numbers of task forces to both investigate and potentially conquer numerous worlds of the Pegasus galaxy using gate co-ordinates as a reference. He had intended to sow confusion and disorder amongst the enemy ranks by making them surrounded and uncertain as to his forces bases. However that plan had not worked out as he intended when the first reports started coming in about the status of the worlds visited. Oh he fully expected to hear about the worlds that had become uninhabitable after so many millennia, it was practically predictable after all, but the others had him annoyed. Every single world that his forces visited that had a working gate and signs of civilisation had been uninhabited. The settlements of each world had been completely picked clean of both people and their apparent possessions. It was as if the natives had simply picked up their things and gone someplace else. It was possible the enemy had evacuated these worlds when they realised that the Zarasians were coming but that seemed unlikely. They would have to have detected their presence while they weren't in hyperspace, plotted their apparent trajectories and then evacuated the inhabitants in record time. It just didn't seem possible.

In his mind though that left only one possibility, that they had been evacuated in advance long before his forces had approached. They could have repeated this on countless worlds. It could still be happening or have long since been completed for all he knew. It certainly made expanding his empire more difficult. An empire needed people after all and the reapers were only good for so much. True, they provided a basis for his ground forces and labour but they were not capable of thinking. If his people were to grow more powerful they needed new young minds to perform technical tasks and develop new technologies. They would be greatly needed as they fought to overcome their technologically advanced enemies. A war for a galaxy could last a very long time after all.

Time was of no consequence to Zarin personally, or his reaper soldiers, but the same could not be said for his people. He may be their Etere, their eternal, but they were merely mortal. Some had found a way to stave off death but certainly not all.

If these Tau'ri, since he highly doubted the Averians capable of such a feat, had chosen to remove the populations of these worlds then they must have done something with them. The Tau'ri were an intergalactic race he knew, but ferrying the population of nearly every world in this galaxy to another was a massive undertaking. They shouldn't have had the time since he had moved to a full war setting to accomplish such a thing, at least he hoped not. Logically the humans of this galaxy should be on one or more worlds in this galaxy. The alternative was far too worrying to contemplate.

He currently had a strike force dispatched to another world along the outer rim, following another stargate address. What they would find there he didn't know but another empty village would piss him off. Ideally what he wanted was to find a few enemy bases. The Wraith could be tracked down to a certain degree and the Averians weren't about to evacuate their homeworld, but the Tau'ri were effectively unknowns in this galaxy. Weeding them out would be an annoyingly arduous task but he would savour the moment when the searching was over and it was underway.

* * *

**Space – _Borealis_ **

The base ship glimmered against the dark back drop of open space. She was far from any star system and away from prying eyes. Her purpose out her was two fold, act as a secret listening post in the depths of space and to continue ship production while remaining hidden from the Zarasians. They had no idea if the Zarasians knew about Atlantis and was a distinct possibility they did, but they couldn't possibly know about _Borealis_ since her existence was such a tightly guarded secret.

Her commanding officer Colonel Paul Davis was standing in the custom built control room in the very bowels of the base ship. It was a truly wonderful design. Davis sat on a chair in the centre of the dome shaped room, while around him numerous crewmen operated control consoles. The walls had been designed to project an image of the space around the base ship, meaning Davis could see the stars twinkling in the distance. Even the parts of the floor surrounding the circular control area had the projectors built in. The choice to relocate the control centre came from the fact that this city had been designed for combat. This wasn't a place for people to live like Atlantis but a place to launch attacks against the enemies of the Alliance. Even sitting in space like this and operating at minimal power the base ship was far from being vulnerable. Her entire hull was lined with thick armour plating that not only insulated her against the icy depths of space but offered great protection from potential attackers. The silvery armour plating glinted with running lights and shone under the light of the transport beams scouring the asteroid field she was parked by.

Davis had deliberately chosen to place the base ship by the asteroid field because of the opportunity it presented. Using beaming technology they could effectively sweep the asteroids for any useful resources and work on constructing new vessels. The priority builds at the moment were Night Fury class vessels. Highly automated, heavily armed and requiring only a small crew to operate they were very much in demand when numbers to spread around were so important. Working in the administrative arm of Homeworld Command he knew the importance of having forces to spread around. If you have just one world to defend then a few big ships are fine but if you have to guard several worlds then you need a large number of small ships. Not just so you can spread your forces across those worlds but so that you have the numbers to be able to redeploy and reinforce those worlds should they come under attack.

Right now it was his job to bolster their forces while staying hidden. Numerous hulls were already under construction in the many hangers across the base ship. Industrial beams made construction incredibly easy with the resources being cherry picked from the asteroids. To speed up construction _Borealis_ was devoting minimum power to the other systems, aside from deep space sensors of course. Though the capacitors were fully charged and operating the primary shields were deactivated, as were the weapon systems. Power was flowing freely from the neutrino ion generators to the sensors, shields and beam arrays, but not from the ZPM's because they could be greatly needed later on.

Although he knew what his orders were he was more than willing to see _Borealis_ fighting on the front lines. It was what she had been designed for, to be a mobile military base that could relocate as the front lines did, which when combined with a stargate made the problem of supply lines practically non-existent.

"Sir long range sensors are detecting hyperspace activity," a crewman reported, rousing Davis from his musings. "Vessels are in transit."

"What kind of vessels?" Davis asked, perking up at having finally detected something of note since his mission began.

"Processing…Confirmed five Zarasian strike craft," the crewman replied.

"Can you ascertain their trajectory and end destination?"

"Course projections suggest two possible star systems sir."

"What assets do we have in the area?" Davis asked another crewman.

"None of personal assets or the Asgard ships, however the Jaffa and Liberum groups are in range."

Davis nodded, mulling the information over before coming to a decision. _Borealis_ could technically intercept that group but their orders were clear.

"Transmit a priority one message to the Weir informing them of our discovery," he ordered. The ball is in Colonel Sheppard's court, he thought to himself.

"Transmitting now sir," said the communications officer.

"Wait!" said the first crewman. "Secondary contact detected, different course and heading."

"Hold that transmission," Davis ordered.

"Transmission holding."

"Report," Davis ordered.

"Zarasian strike group, composition five vessels. They're heading to a different star system cluster on a different vector sir. Sensors suggest different points of origin. Only the Liberum are in intercept range."

"Add the data to the transmission," Davis ordered.

Looks like the Jaffa and Liberum are about to be formerly introduced to the Zarasians, Davis thought to himself.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	59. First Encounters

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Zarin is the variable in the equation. On the one hand he is a maniacal, prideful, cruel and a meglomaniac. On the other hand though he is also a viscous, ambitious, cunning, underhand and cut throat individual. Not someone to be taken lightly. Borealis is going to be a major headache for Zarin when it comes to putting the base ship to full use.**

**Cdoctor: Wait no longer.**

**Oddliver: For the moment she will remain a secret, acting in a support role. But that won't be forever.**

**Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**Osced: That was the idea, primarily a support ship but also capable of getting stuck in if necessary.**

**Naginator: Thank you.**

**kiska: Thank you.**

**Monsterjeffbuk: The moment you have been waiting for has arrived.**

**stormwolf3710: I will never forget that important rule of cloning, even though a lot of other sci-fi seems to. In this case it actually works quite well for the Tok'ra since they don't have to share a body anymore if they take clone hosts. Hit and run will be used more effectively later on, for now both sides are playing hide and seek.**

**BIG Z1776: The allies are still looking at a few worries. They realise the Zarasians haven't revealed everything they have available to them simply because it doesn't seem logical that that is all they have.**

**Ruby Pena: Thank you.**

* * *

**_Weir_**

"Commander we are receiving a priority one message from _Borealis_," ISIS said.

"Show me," Sheppard ordered.

A holographic screen appeared in front of him and displayed the report sent by Davis. It looked like they had finally discovered the Zarasians middle game. A pity they didn't know the full extent of what their opening moves had been.

There were currently two strike groups heading on different courses to different system clusters, both of which were reasonably far away from each other. This actually played right into their hands since the Jaffa and Liberum were in striking range of both clusters but wouldn't be too near to one another as a result. If they played things right they effectively stall the Zarasians from expanding their flanks any further, which is what appeared to be happening according to the sensor data. The question though was who to dispatch where, though in reality there was no question at all. The Jaffa hyperdrives didn't have the speed to scout so many systems at once while maintaining force strength, so they would be better off taking the smaller of the two clusters. That left the Liberum to take the larger cluster.

"Contact the Liberum and Jaffa," Sheppard ordered. "Inform them of the presence of Zarasian strike groups and their predicted courses. Have them scout the systems and report back before moving onto the next."

If all went well neither group would find anything of note to give the Alliance any concern. Of course if he were that lucky he might as well ask for Zarin to turn up so that he could cut off the head and effectively shatter the Zarasian command structure in one foul swoop. Nah, he wasn't that lucky.

"You think they're going to find something don't you," Rodney said.

John looked at him. Was he really that easy to read? Or maybe it was the other option.

"Why do you?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"It's a possibility," Rodney replied.

"Yeah it is," Sheppard agreed.

* * *

**Jaffa Fleet**

On the fleet flagship Bra'tac studied the tactical information sent to him by their allies. He certainly had the easier of the two tasks and that was what troubled him. He didn't object, he was perfectly content to take whatever task needed to be done but he was worried about the situation the Liberum were in. Having to canvas so many systems was not an easy task when you had only a few ships at your disposal. Admittedly with their incredibly powerful hyperdrives it was easy but the problem was covering the system, or systems, the Zarasians would choose to visit. Even worse was the fact that the Zarasians displayed such large fleet numbers that they could potentially hit every single one of these systems in short order. That was something that needed to be dealt with. The one positive aspect was that the systems he had been tasked with could be travelled to by the Zarasians several times over before even reaching a single one of the Liberum systems. This fact gave him the starting point for an idea on just how to deal with this situation.

"Teal'c," Bra'tac said. "What do you make of the situation?"

"We cannot allow the Zarasians to capture these systems," Teal'c replied. "But I am more worried about the Liberum. If the Zarasians commit enough forces to this attack they could quickly take over multiple systems and solidify their position. Once that happens the Liberum would not be able to commit enough forces to retake one without compromising the security of the others."

Bra'tac knew his friend was correct, there were nearly a dozen systems in that cluster and they were quite close together. Even with the Jaffa hyperdrives it would be easy to hop between them. The key factor in defending them was preventing the enemy from gaining a substantial foothold. Just one of those systems needed to have a habitable world with a stargate for them to establish a base and then begin to leverage control of the entire cluster.

"How are the modifications to the fleet progressing?" Bra'tac asked.

Teal'c grinned. "They will be ready before the Zarasians arrive."

"Split the fleet in two," Bra'tac ordered. "You shall take the carriers to one system while I take the destroyers to another."

"Which system would you like me to take?" Teal'c asked.

"The Tau'ri told us that they have a gate address for only one of the systems, I shall take that one. I want to keep our fighter carrying ability a surprise for now and I suspect they will likely travel to the system with the stargate first."

"Good luck old man," Teal'c said with a smile

"Good luck to you older man," Bra'tac replied with a smile of his own.

* * *

**Bra'tac's Fleet**

Several hours had passed since the fleet had separated to scout the two systems. Now the task was complete and they were awaiting the arrival of the Zarasian ships. Bra'tac knew that his eight vessels were more than a match for the meagre five he would face but the Zarasians did not have the luxury of such knowledge and that would cost them dearly when the opening shots were fired.

Before that could happen though they would need to present the ruse of having no involvement with the Alliance and being an entirely separate entity. All of which was a part of the overall battle plan that the allies had laid down. However if it was to be believed then he would have to pretend to be a Pegasus native. He hoped his acting would be up to task.

Teal'c had successfully scouted out his system and found no worlds capable of supporting life. He on the other hand had found a single world with this galaxy's model of a stargate on it but no signs of life apart from wild animals.

Around him on the bridge of his flagship Jaffa were manning their stations, waiting with baited breath. Chairs had been a very welcome addition to the bridge fittings.

"Master Bra'tac a hyperspace window is opening," said a crewman.

"Raise shields on all vessels," Bra'tac ordered. "Send an encrypted message to the other fleet telling them the Zarasians have arrived here."

"Transmission is being sent."

"Five Zarasian strike craft emerging from hyperspace, they have powered shields."

"Open a channel," Bra'tac ordered.

"Channel open."

"Attention unknown vessels," Bra'tac said. "You have entered the territory of the Free Jaffa Nation. Any hostile action will result in your immediate destruction. State your identity."

The Zarasian ships simply sat where they were. Their weapons and shields were still powered but they had not made a single move.

"State your identity," Bra'tac repeated.

The Zarasians still made no action to even suggest that they had received the transmission. Bra'tac narrowed his eyes, he didn't like the fact they weren't making a move. It was time to provoke a reaction.

"Power our forward weapons to maximum," he ordered.

Power flowed from the ship's primary and secondary generators to the forward weapons. With this much power flowing into them they would be capable of firing at their maximum rate. If the Zarasian strike craft were foolish enough to engage them in combat then they would be annihilated. One on one a type D or C could destroy a Zarasian strike craft with a single volley. It seemed though that whoever was in command of that small fleet was not foolish enough to take a clearly superior force. The Zarasian vessels quickly jumped to hyperspace and fled the system.

Several hours later the sensors of _Borealis_ detected a much larger fleet of Zarasian vessels heading towards the system where Bra'tac's vessels had had their stand off with the strike force. It wouldn't be long before the Jaffa and Zarasians came to blows.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

"The Free Jaffa Nation," Zarin said, repeating what he had just been told. "Interesting. You have the tactical report on their capabilities?"

"Our vessels were able to attain scans of their power emissions before retreating," said the underling, handing Zarin a data pad with the information.

"Strange vessels," Zarin noted, scrolling through the data. "But they seem to be capable certainly."

For a few minutes his eyes glowed red and his gaze became distant. Then he focused on his surroundings as the glow died away.

"It is time to say hello to the Free Jaffa Nation," he said with a predatory grin.

* * *

A hyperspace window opened in front of the eight Jaffa ships. From it emerged fifty Zarasian strike craft. They immediately raised their shields and powered their weapons and the Jaffa vessels did the same. Bra'tac could see the logic in the choice of numbers. With six plasma cannons on each of the strike craft they were capable of dispatching all eight destroyers in a single volley, even if the Jaffa destroyed eight of their number in return. What surprised him though was the Zarasians had not attacked yet. Once again they were sitting in the distance and not making a single aggressive move aside from their very presence.

"Master Bra'tac we are receiving a transmission from the enemy fleet," a crewman reported.

"Which ship?" Bra'tac asked.

"It appears to be coming from every ship simultaneously," said the crewman. "I believe the fleet is being used as a relay for the transmission."

"On screen," Bra'tac ordered.

The holographic viewing screen powered up and displayed the face of the most infamous individual in the whole of the Pegasus galaxy, Zarin.

"I am Etere Zarin of the Zarasian Empire," Zarin stated. "This system is in space claimed by the Zarasian Empire. Leave now and you will not be destroyed."

"I am Master Bra'tac of the Free Jaffa Nation," Bra'tac replied. "My people have fought long and hard to achieve our freedom. We will not be threatened by anyone, especially not those who would try to claim one of our worlds."

"My scans reveal you have no presence on this world Jaffa. You have no claim over this world."

"You have no more claim over this world than we do. If it is a new world you seek look elsewhere, we were here first. The Wraith could not stop our rise to power and neither will you."

Zarin narrowed his eyes. "The Wraith are no longer a threat to anyone and you are outmatched. If you wish to live I suggest you leave now."

"The Wraith have been the scourge of this galaxy for ten thousand years. You cannot deny the power of a race that could defeat the ancestors. But if they could not stop our rise to power do you really wish to make us your enemy."

"I fear no one and you are trying my patience even though I am trying to be kind to you. Next time we meet if you bring more ships then maybe you can claim another world but this one is mine."

"Goodbye Etere Zarin," Bra'tac said as his ships powered their hyperdrives. "Next time you face us you will not underestimate us."

"Oh I know exactly what you are capable of Master Bra'tac," Zarin replied mockingly.

"Indeed?" Bra'tac said with a smirk, as his ships jumped into hyperspace.

As he spoke that final word sixteen ships de-cloaked behind the Zarasian fleet, boxing them in. These ships were the type C's under the command of Teal'c and they immediately opened fire on the Zarasian ships.

Sixteen strike craft were hit from the first volley, immediately losing their shields and succumbing to the intense firepower. They died quick, fiery deaths and found themselves lacking in a suitable response. Their troubles only got worse as the ships of Bra'tac's fleet suddenly emerged from their brief hyperspace jump to add their own firepower to the mix. Another eight vessels quickly joined the others as debris scattered across space.

The Zarasian strike craft began to scatter as they realised they had been ambushed. The Jaffa pressed their attack though and continued forwards into the middle of the formation. A truly successful ambush can be absolutely devastating if pulled off correctly but it does rely on several key points. You need to be able to deliver the maximum amount of firepower to wipe out the enemy in a single go, enough to render them incapable of inflicting significant damage or keep them off balance so that they cannot mount a successful counterattack. With the appearance of the additional vessels the Jaffa's stamina had doubled and their firepower tripled but the Zarasians could still inflict significant damage. So that left the third option, keep the enemy off balance.

Pushing deep into the heart of the formation, where the enemy couldn't get at them due to their forward facing firepower, the kill count began to rise quickly. The destroyers led the way, using their superior shields to act as the spear head of the attack and protect the lesser defended carriers. The Zarasians had apparently had enough of fighting against the superior armed foe and attempted to make a break for it before they succumbed to the same fate as the other wrecks now littering the system.

Only seven vessels were fortunate enough to escape from the ambush and sensor readings from _Borealis_ would show they fled back the way they had come.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

Zarin roared with anger when he read the report on the encounter with the Jaffa. Cloaking technology! It seemed that every single race in this galaxy or the next seemed to have developed cloaking technology and yet it was the one thing his scientists had never been able to develop. The Averians had cloaking technology, the Tau'ri had displayed it and presumably those Asgard even had it and now so did these strange Jaffa who had gold tattoos on their heads. It seemed this technology was going to cost him dearly.

What really annoyed him though was that yet another upstart race had been discovered that would have to be put down if he was to finally conquer the whole galaxy. It seemed like he could literally trip and discover another race that had managed to grow strong without the Wraith dragging them down. The alien Tau'ri and the Asgard were bad enough but a race that had grown strong in the shadow of the Wraith was worrying.

He sighed in an attempt to calm himself. He had another patrol group that would shortly reach another system cluster, one much richer than that the Jaffa had claimed. Hopefully he would be able to find something of value there, perhaps a world rich in resources or maybe even a human world that he could conquer and bring into the fold. If it turned out that he discovered another evacuated world then he would be very, very annoyed.

He might even take his wrath out on his little pet Eurielle.

* * *

**_Weir_**

"Well this is certainly going to change matters," John noted.

"I'm amazed they were able to pull it off at all," Rodney added. "They were taking one hell of a risk."

"How did they get cloaking technology on those ships anyway?" John asked.

"I think they must have brought the cloaks with the rest of the equipment they brought with them," Rodney replied.

"I thought it wasn't possible to cloak something as large as a Ha'tak with their technology," John said.

"That was certainly true with the old Ha'tak designs but the new versions make up for the one shortcoming that made it impossible," Rodney explained. "The Jaffa already had viable cloaking technology but lacked sufficient power to make it work on something as large as a Ha'tak. However with the additional generators to power the device it is now possible."

"We never thought about giving the type D's cloaking technology," John noted. "Maybe we should have."

"Looks like we didn't need to," Rodney said. "Although I suppose this can be seen as a good thing."

"How?"

"It means they're progressing as a people," Rodney explained. "They came up with the idea on their own because they saw that it would be a good thing and that it was actually possible. This is what we've been aiming for when we first tried to free the Jaffa from slavery."

"Yeah you're right," John admitted. "What I'm worried about though is that they might have gone too far."

"Sir we have the Jaffa fleet on comms," a crewman reported.

"Speak of the devil, put it on," John ordered.

The holographic view screen activated and showed the image of Bra'tac and Teal'c.

"Hello boys," John said. "I hear you guys have had a fun time."

Both Jaffa smiled at the memory.

"The Zarasians fell right into our trap," Bra'tac said.

"We were able to repulse them from this system and they never suspected a thing," Teal'c added.

"Nice little addition those cloaks of yours," John said. "I have to admit I didn't see that one coming."

"Neither did Zarin," Teal'c replied with a smirk.

John raised an eyebrow. "Zarin was there?"

"Not in person but I had a conversation with him using his fleet as a relay," Bra'tac explained.

"So how did that conversation go?" Rodney asked.

"He told us to leave his system and never come back," Bra'tac said.

"He actually gave you a choice then," John said. "Well that was generous of him."

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "It seems he did not want to make another enemy if he could avoid it."

"Shame that wasn't his choice," John noted.

"I see what you meant about him Colonel," Bra'tac said. "He is not a foe to be underestimated. He thinks about his moves carefully and does not needlessly waste his forces."

"Well not if he can help it," McKay pointed out.

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "I believe he will be seething after this loss to an enemy he knows nothing about."

"Nice for him to know how that feels," John said. "But I am a little worried that you might have crushed him a little too thoroughly and revealed a few of your tricks in the process."

"What do you mean?" Bra'tac asked with a frown.

"Well you used cloaking devices, which by the way we didn't even know you had," John said. "Now that Zarin knows you have that technology he will be more cautious. He also now knows just how powerful your ships are."

"I see," Bra'tac said. "I am sorry we did not tell you but the upgrades were a recent development that we have only just been able to make operational."

"Do not worry Colonel Sheppard," Teal'c assured him. "We have not yet used all of our tricks just yet. Our fighters and bombers are still unknown to the enemy."

"Fair point," John admitted. "But don't you think that keeping the cloaks a secret for a little while would have been a good idea?"

"Not if we are to maintain the illusion that we are natives to this galaxy," Bra'tac explained.

"Alright I'll bite," John said. "Spill it."

"We claimed to have gathered strength despite the threat of the Wraith," Bra'tac explained. "For this to happen it would make sense we have some form of stealth technology. It also means that he won't suspect something is wrong when he can't find traces of our presence beyond our fleet."

"Ok, when you're right you're right," John admitted. "But aren't you worried about him trying to hunt you down and annihilate you because you pissed him off?"

Bra'tac and Teal'c glanced at each other and shared a predatory grin.

"I think that translates as bring it on," Rodney said helpfully.

"I would never have guessed," John replied sarcastically. "I really should have known that a warrior race would go looking for the fight rather than let it come to them."

"If he wants a fight we intend to give him one," Bra'tac stated factually.

"Just don't overdo it," John requested. "My boss would be very upset if I let something happen to the two of you."

"Worry not Colonel Sheppard," Teal'c said. "There is no honour in chucking lives away."

"No there isn't," John agreed. "So you'll be happy to hear that the last of the Pegasus natives have been moved to Concordia. They're all out of harms way for the time being."

"Commander," ISIS said, interrupting the conversation. "I have a priority one report from the Liberum fleet. They have found an inhabited world in their search area."

Rodney gave John a look. "You just had to say it didn't you."

"Helm, take us to the Liberum fleet now," John ordered. "Sorry gentleman but duty calls."

"You realise this scuttles our plans for the Liberum," Rodney pointed out. "We can't use them because they don't have the forces to hold off a siege without support."

"Yeah I know that but we need them in this fight," Sheppard replied. "Another enemy with powerful technology to fight is the only thing that is going to give Zarin pause."

"So what are going to do?"

"First of all we're going to check out this inhabited world," John replied. "Then we're going to have a word with Tomin about what we're going to do next."

* * *

"Well who could have predicted this turn of events?" Janus asked.

"No one," Morgan replied. "But I am not exactly surprised. Fortune does not always favour the just."

"No it doesn't," Janus admitted. "But it would be nice if it did. It would mean we wouldn't have to interfere."

"And yet despite what you have said we have yet to actually interfere at all," Morgan pointed out.

"Not yet," Janus admitted.

"Alright," Morgan said. "What are you going to do?"

"Me?" Janus asked innocently. "Why nothing at all."

"What?"

"I said I'm not going to do anything," Janus reaffirmed.

"You mean you're happy if we just sit back and watch events unfold?" Morgan asked in disbelief.

"Oh I didn't say that, I just said I wasn't going to do anything," Janus said with a smile.

"You want me to do something?" Morgan asked, stunned.

"No not you either," Janus said, giving Oma a look.

This time it was Oma's turn to be stunned. "What?"

"Tell me the Liberum forces haven't been on your watch list for ascension candidates," Janus prompted.

"I believe there are many good candidates amongst those present," Oma admitted. "But so what?"

"So if they fell in battle then you wouldn't be opposed to ascending them?" Janus asked.

"I wouldn't see the downside," Oma admitted. "But, again, so what?"

"So the Liberum can engage in combat without fear of losing their people," Janus said.

"Janus," Oma said in a steely tone. "Explain yourself fully at once or I assure you will live to regret it."

Janus gulped. Oma could be really terrifying when she wanted to be. "Okay fine, here's my idea…"

"I'm not sure," Oma said a while later.

"It can't hurt to suggest it," Janus argued.

"Yes but they might do it just because we suggest it and not come to their own conclusion," Oma pointed out.

"Not if we tell the right person," Morgan argued. "And I think I know exactly who we can have this discussion with."

* * *

**_Liberatus_**

Onboard the Liberum flagship Tomin sat in his quarters waiting for the arrival of the Tau'ri. He knew his message would provoke an immediate response from them and figured that with their fast ships he wouldn't have to wait long. He had actually been quite surprised himself with the discovery, none of them had expected to discover an inhabited world. Now a formerly inhabited world wouldn't have surprised them but an inhabited one that no one was aware of had certainly come as quite a shock. Over time the odd world could probably have fallen through the cracks but the real kicker was the unusual natural properties this one came with. When his scouts had come back with their report he had immediately taken a fighter just to go see what they had been telling him for himself. He would need the Tau'ri scientists and their scanning equipment to check this out though if he was ever going to believe what his eyes had apparently been telling him.

While he was lost in his thought the lights in his room slowly began to dim and before he knew it he was surrounded by near darkness. With the lights so low he could hardly see his own hand in front of his face. Before he could even get up and find out what had happened he was blinded by three bright white shapes that suddenly appeared in front of him. As he shielded his eyes from the glare the shapes reformed until they took the form of three people, two women and a man. Their bodies seemed to glow with a radiant white light.

"Hello Tomin," said the older woman in the middle. "My name is Oma."

"And your companions?" Tomin asked hesitantly.

"This is Janus and Morgan," she replied, gesturing to the man on her right and woman on her left respectively.

"Judging from your appearance and entrance I would presume you are ascended beings," Tomin stated. "Ancients maybe?"

Janus chuckled. "He's sharp this one."

Oma smiled. "Yes he is. And you can stop trying to use your powers Tomin. We have temporarily taken this room outside of the normal flow of time. You cannot contact your companions."

"What do you want from me?" Tomin demanded, somewhat aggressively.

"We know about the inhabited world below and your fight with the Tau'ri against the Zarasians," Morgan said.

Tomin looked at her. "Morgan? As in Morgan Le Fay? The one who helped the Tau'ri fight against the Ori?"

Janus chuckled. "Looks like he's heard of you Morgan."

"And I have heard of you as well Janus," Tomin added. "Doctor McKay once warned me how anything you created causes problems."

Morgan snickered at the same time Janus lost his smile.

"I'll tell you now that I will not be a pawn of the ascended," Tomin stated firmly. "So I ask again, what do you want from me?"

"To help," Janus replied.

Tomin narrowed his eyes. "Please explain."

* * *

The _Weir_ exited hyperspace over a green, Earth like world. Not too far away and in orbit of this world was the Liberum fleet.

"Open a channel," John ordered.

"Channel open sir."

"Hello Colonel Sheppard," Tomin said.

"Hello Tomin," John said. "I hear you found an inhabited world."

"Yes we did," Tomin confirmed with a hint of excitement in his voice. "However there is something I would like you to check out for me. I saw it with my own eyes but I could not believe what I was seeing. I suggest you take your ship into the atmosphere to perform your scans. The interference from the planet's strong magnetic field can affect your sensor's performance."

"Tomin, would you please explain what you saw?" John asked patiently.

"My apologies Colonel," Tomin said, getting his excitement under control. "It is just such an amazing sight. On certain parts of the planet there are rocks, whole islands even, in the sky."

"So…floating mountains?" McKay asked slowly.

"Yes Colonel," Tomin confirmed.

Sheppard gave Rodney a look. "Ok McKay, explain this one."

* * *

**Please Review.**


	60. Strange New World

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses:**

**I'm going to start this off by saying it is not Pandora. While i am a firm believer in the possibility that the universe is so large that if you look hard enough it may be possible to find a planet with floating rocks Pegasus isn't big enough to find Pandora in. I feel i must remind a lot of you that this isn't a crossover with another universe, but floating rocks are cool so they're allowed.**

**Interesting guesses by some of you though who didn't pick the obvious one, but no Furlings or Nox here i'm afraid.**

**In case some of you were wondering the war is finally getting hot, which means that hidden pieces will eventually be put into play. I have plenty of surprises for you all and a few interesting battles on the horizon.**

* * *

**_Weir_**

"Take us in," Rodney said after working at his console for a moment.

"What?" Sheppard asked, that was definitely not the response he was expecting.

"I said take us in," Rodney repeated.

"Why?"

"Because I have a theory," Rodney explained. "But I can't confirm it from here. That planet has a powerful magnetic field, incredibly powerful in some areas. I can't get a detailed scan of those rocks from here with all the interference."

"First of all explain your theory," Sheppard requested.

"Magnets!"

"Magnets?"

"Magnets."

Sheppard sighed. "Rodney I know I ask you to keep things simple for the non-scientists but really?"

"Okay fine," Rodney relented. "I believe that there is an element in those rocks that is a near perfectly diamagnetic. In other words it is essentially repelling the magnetic field of the planet and keeping those rocks aloft. Now this unknown element could be a diamagnet the likes of which no one has ever seen, or imagined, or most likely it could be a room temperature superconductor. Either way we should really check this out."

"You understand that Tomin?" Sheppard asked.

"I think so," Tomin replied, though he sounded a little unsure.

"Don't worry, I feel the same way when Rodney gives an explanation as well," Sheppard assured him. "Ok we're going in. Helm, take us into the atmosphere."

Slowly the _Weir_ eased her massive bulk out of orbit and dipped into the upper atmosphere. Gently, almost hesitantly the mighty ship descended, lower and lower until she was among the thick cream of clouds. Barely visible through the clouds around them were numerous rocks of varying shapes and sizes, suspended in the sky as though gravity was non-existent. Some of them were huge, veritable mountains and even islands floating in the sky, green fauna covering them like patches of hair. In the distance the outlines of large winged birds was visible as they flitted through the sky. It was beautiful to look at.

Throughout the interior of the _Weir_ people flocked to nearby windows to catch a glimpse of this miraculous sight. On the bridge, once the ship had stabilised its position, the crew stopped what they were doing to take in the picturesque view. The universe holds many natural wonders, this was one of them.

"Amazing," Sheppard whispered before clearing his throat. "Rodney."

"Yeah what?" Rodney asked, entranced by the view.

"Any results from your scans yet?" Sheppard asked, a small smile playing around the edge of his lips.

Rodney shook himself and turned back to the console.

"It looks like I was right," he said smugly. "Sensors are detecting a powerful magnetic field and superconductor mineral deposits in those rocks. The ones higher up have a larger mineral to mass ratio. The deposits in those bigger ones must be pretty big though."

"Sir I have a contact on sensors," a crewman reported. "It's coming up behind us."

"Clarify," Sheppard ordered. "What is it?"

"Hard to get an exact read on it sir, the magnetic field is distorting scans. It's big though, real big. I'm getting a heat reading off of it but no discernable power readings. It could be an animal. Sir, it's heading right for us."

"Hey Rodney do flying whales fit in your theory?" Sheppard asked jokingly, although he was slightly worried it might be the case.

Tomin had reported that his ship had detected life signs on the planet below. Was it possible that life signs they had mistaken for human were actually giant flying creatures? He really did not want to get eaten by the local wildlife.

"The largest whale ever encountered on Earth measures in at about thirty metres," Rodney pointed out. "This thing appears to be about six hundred. If it is a whale then I would hate to think what it eats."

"Us maybe Jonah?" Sheppard suggested, receiving a glare in return. "Relax McKay we'll be perfectly safe with our shields up."

"Shields are up sir."

"There you see," Sheppard said. "What's the status on that unknown?"

"Still heading towards us. The clouds are blocking the view though. One kilometre and closing."

"Anything to report?"

"Definite heat reading, no power readings and what appear to be life signs. Seventy five hundred metres and still coming."

"Sheppard I really don't like this," Rodney said, with a certain sense of urgency in his voice.

"Five hundred metres, confirmed collision course."

Sheppard was starting to agree. The last thing he wanted to something that big to hit him while the ship was fighting against a gravity field.

"Three hundred metres, collision imminent."

"Get us out of here!" Sheppard ordered.

The helmsmen gunned the throttle and the ship surged downwards, using the planets gravity to lower their altitude and the engines to buy them more time.

As the _Weir_ dropped a large shape burst out of the cloud bank behind them and surged onwards, passing over them. Whatever it was it was big, and it was made of metal.

"Rodney," Sheppard prompted.

At the unspoken order Rodney immediately started tapping away at the controls, running scans of the unknown craft. You could actually make an estimate of its capabilities just from the view of its underbelly. It was long, its hull curved and tapered to a point and from the sides were four spinning rotor blades. As the tail of the ship became visible they noticed four large cylinders capped at both ends in a honeycomb grill, presumably these were the propeller nacelles.

The ship passed overhead of them and slowly disappeared into the clouds. No spoke a word, just admired what they could see of the ship.

"Rodney," Sheppard said again.

"It's low tech, really low tech," Rodney said, as the last of the scan results came onto his screen.

"You're kidding right," Sheppard said in disbelief. "Rodney I am a pilot you know so I do know a few things about aircraft. That thing is seven times the size of a 747 and looks like it weighs more than a few tons. Even a zeppelin doesn't reach these altitudes and that thing makes it look easy, so what the hell makes that thing low tech?"

"Well for one thing its steam powered," Rodney replied.

"Steam powered?" Sheppard asked. "As in a boiler, pistons and turbines?"

"Cool huh? That's what the heat signature we detected earlier, they have steam running in pipes throughout the entire ship. No electricity at all."

"Can you get a better picture?"

"Voila!" Rodney said, as a three dimensional hologram appeared in front of them.

The mystery ship was quite impressive, a veritable flying battleship. On the top of the ship were four large triple gun ball turrets evenly space along the hull and an armoured conning tower in the middle. Numerous smaller guns were also apparent along the length of the ship. This ship had clearly been built for battle.

Sheppard gave a low whistle. "They certainly like their guns."

"I think we can safely say this is a warship."

"Yeah but how the hell is that thing flying though?" Sheppard asked. "It looks far too heavy to make it off the ground with just those side rotors."

"You're right," Rodney said. "What makes it possible is that its made almost entirely of trinium and the hull is lined with the same superconductor found in the rocks. In conjunction with the rotors it's enough to keep the ship aloft."

"I'm surprised this world hadn't been decimated by the Wraith years ago," Sheppard said. "They usually didn't allow a species to get this far."

Rodney shrugged. "Maybe they developed this in the time between culls. Although it could have something to do with the fact that we couldn't establish a gate connection, they could have just fallen off the grid."

"I suppose," Sheppard admitted. "Maybe we should just ask them."

"You want to initiate first contact?"

"If we haven't already, they could have seen us when they passed us."

"Sir," a crewman said. "We have incoming objects."

From the bridge several of what they assumed to have been birds were heading towards the _Weir_, swooping through the air as they glided on the thermal currents.

"Looks like the wildlife has spotted at least," Sheppard noted.

Rodney frowned. "I don't think those are birds."

Sheppard looked at them.

"Alright I admit at this distance they must be pretty big birds," Sheppard said. "But we are getting life signs from them even amongst all this."

"That's not what I mean," Rodney said. "I'm detecting the superconductor again."

Sheppard narrowed his eyes.

"ISIS," he ordered. "Magnify those objects."

A holographic image of the display seen through the window appeared in front of him. The image was then magnified several times before the bird like shapes filled the display. With the clouds obscuring them they certainly looked like birds, with large curved wings and pointed heads.

"Scans?" Sheppard asked.

"Life signs," Rodney said. "Definitely life signs."

"Not steam?"

"Do you know how much space even a small steam engine takes up?"

"Ok then," Sheppard said. "Take us closer."

"Yes sir," the helm operator said, with a slight amount of hesitation.

The _Weir_ slowly approached the so called birds, allowing for a clearer picture to be produced. They were definitely wings but were quite skeletal, like those of a bat.

"Those things look like bats," Sheppard noted. "Damn clouds are blocking the view. Tell me you have something on sensors Rodney."

"The magnetic field is playing hell with the fine details," Rodney explained. "It's hard to get an exact read on them, but…hang on…yes, got something."

"Well?" Sheppard asked when Rodney failed to continue. "Rodney those things are getting close."

He wasn't kidding as the bat things were now flitting around the _Weir_ like vultures, and Sheppard really didn't like that comparison. They were hiding themselves behind clouds to obscure them from view. Unfortunately the _Weir_ was so big that it was obviously there despite the clouds. Then suddenly, for no apparent reason, they scattered.

"What the hell?" Sheppard wondered out loud.

"Those aren't birds they're gliders," Rodney announced. "Those wings having trinium ribs and are made of fabric. There's even a load of that superconductor incorporated into them."

"I should have known," Sheppard said. "But why did they pull back?"

"Maybe because they saw a kilometre long alien ship?" Rodney asked sarcastically.

He wasn't wrong. No sooner had the words left his mouth than the forward section of the shields flared as something came into contact with them and exploded. Most likely it was ordinance. A brief flash of light emanated from the clouds in front of the ship and the shields were struck again.

"Status," Sheppard asked.

"Minimal, not even one percent," tactical reported.

"Good to know," Sheppard said. "Now what's firing at us?"

"The ship just passed us," tactical replied, rather pointlessly as it happened since said ship burst out of the cloud bank guns blazing.

"Put me on external speakers," Sheppard ordered. "And dial up the volume to make sure they can hear me."

"You're on sir."

"This is Colonel John Sheppard of the Tau'ri vessel the Weir," Sheppard said. "Stop firing at my ship we just want to talk!"

Unfortunately the only effect was to cause the airship to momentarily hesitate before they resumed firing.

"I don't think they believed you," Rodney commented.

"I repeat we are only here to talk. We do not mean you any harm. Please stop firing."

And still the airship kept firing in the naïve hope that they could break through the perceived enemy's defences.

"Rodney, are all the targeting systems still operational?" Sheppard asked, having given up on using the loud speakers.

"Yes, why?"

"Take us level with the airship," Sheppard ordered. "Tactical fire side plasma beams directly forwards and be careful not to even come close to hitting that ship."

"Aye sir," tactical responded.

Once the _Weir_ had risen to the same altitude as the airship the six side mounted plasma beams opened fire. Blue streams of plasma quickly crossed the distance, briefly forming a hexagonal prism around the airship. The shots had been carefully targeted so that none of the beams even came close to hitting the airship while showing what the _Weir_ was capable of dishing out should she return fire.

* * *

**Airship Conning Tower**

Like on warships of old the conning tower was designed to provide the ship captains with a clear view of the area around the ship. It was also the command area, and effective bridge of the vessel. Heavily armoured to protect the room's occupants it had none the less been shaken as the plasma beams had disrupted the air around the ship.

"What in the name of the ancestors was that?" the captain asked.

"Looked like a beam of light sir," one crewmen suggested.

"We've heard tales that the sky demons possessed weapons of light," suggested the first officer. "Those could be them."

"Actually they're plasma based," an unfamiliar voice said. "And we aren't sky demons. We're people, just like you."

The startled bridge crew turned to face the person who had spoken. To their surprise they saw a middle aged man of medium height and dressed in what appeared to be a military uniform. The most perplexing thing was that they could have sworn he hadn't been there a minute ago and had suddenly just shimmered into existence.

"Who are you?" the captain demanded.

"Like I said before," the man said, with apparent irritation. "I am the commander of that ship out there and I would be very grateful if you would stop firing."

While the bridge had been shaken the gun crews had continued to load and fire the triple guns like clockwork.

"Now lucky for you we come in peace and my ship hasn't even been scratched but I would nevertheless like to at least stop wasting ammo," the strange man continued. "You have just seen what we are capable of. If we didn't come in peace do you really think you would still be here?"

The captain quickly moved to a nearby speaking tube and ordered a cease fire.

"Thank you," the man said gratefully as the gun fire ceased.

"How did you get on my ship?" the captain demanded.

The strange man smiled. "I'm not really here. This is just a hologram, a projection of light."

The captain inched closer to the man then, moving his arm rapidly and without any warning, attempted to poke him. To his amazement his finger went straight through.

"How?" the captain asked, his eyes wide with shock.

"Technology," said the mystery man. "Really advanced technology beyond your current level, but it is technology none the less."

"What do you want here?"

"Well for starters I would like to say hello," the mystery man replied. "I would also like to know why you fired on my ship."

The captain shrugged. "We thought you were sky demons who had come to take our people."

"Do you mean Wraith?"

"That is one word for them."

"That is the only word for them now," the mystery man said. "They aren't demons anymore and certainly not a threat to you or anyone else."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long story."

"I would very much like to hear it," the captain insisted.

"I would like to tell it but I don't have the time," Sheppard replied. "I need to speak to your leaders."

"Why?"

"Because I have a feeling you would be very grateful if first contact with an alien world ended well," the mystery man replied. "And getting to speak to the people in charge would make me forget about the fact that my ship was fired upon and my crew unnecessarily put in danger."

The captain stared at this mystery man. Clearly he was someone who had his principles straight and he could respect someone who knew the importance of protecting ones crew.

"Look," the mystery man continued. "I'm here to invite your people to join a coalition of united worlds, but to do that I need to speak to your leaders."

"Very well then," the captain relented. "Follow my ship and we shall take you to our leaders."

"Thank you," the mystery man said before vanishing like a ghost.

"You're not serious captain," the first officer said. "We can't just lead them straight to our home."

"You know the stories of the sky demons, the Wraith, entire worlds wiped clean of humans," the captain replied. "People having their years sucked out of them. These people don't even think of them as a threat. Whoever these Tau'ri are they are dangerous and if they wanted to they could have already flattened us."

He raised his hand to stop his first mate from interrupting.

"Since the ring of the ancestors was lost this is our first contact with another world in centuries," he continued. "I am not about to waste this opportunity. I am also going to write a report and a message to high command and have it delivered via messenger pod. It will arrive well before we do. Have a pod readied."

"Yes sir."

A little while later a hatch in the side of the airship opened and a small missile shaped craft with a propeller on the nose shot out of it at high speed. The casing was almost entirely made out of the superconductor, allowing for lift, and the majority of the internal space was taken up by a small steam engine. Operating the craft by manipulation of the stubby wings and tail fin was a single pilot. The messenger pod was capable of moving much faster than the large airship and so would reach the end destination in a fraction of the time.

By the time the airship and the _Weir_ arrived there would be a sizeable welcoming party waiting for them.

* * *

**_Weir_**

"You had to play that card didn't you," Rodney said.

"Time is of the essence here Rodney," Sheppard snapped. "I don't have time to deal with all the red tape that this will involve. If the Zarasians arrive and we don't have the ear of the people who can get things done then I highly doubt we can help them."

"Okay fine. Just so you know I am working on adapting the sensors to work despite this interference. It'll decrease our range but I should be able to make it work."

"How much of a decrease?"

"We'll still be able to cover the planet and orbit."

"Nice, get it done."

"Already on it. Oh and I recommend you have a word with Tomin."

"Why?"

"Because he is probably wondering what has happened to us and would want to know that there are people down here."

"Good point. Open a channel."

"Yes sir."

"Colonel Sheppard," Tomin said, as the holographic screen activated. "What news?"

"We found people down here," Sheppard replied. "We're trying to meet with their leaders and adapt our sensors to this interference. Oh and Rodney was right, there was a superconductor in the rocks."

"I see," Tomin said, although from the look on his face he didn't seem surprised. In fact there appeared to be something on his mind.

"Something wrong Tomin?"

"What are your plans for this world?" Tomin asked.

"Ideally I would like to get them off this world and onto Concordia, but…"

"You don't think they will be reciprocal to the idea?"

"Not a chance," McKay interjected. "I just got the sensors working. I'm detecting thousands of life signs across multiple rocks in the magnetic vortexes. There are more on the actual planets surface. I'm also detecting large heat blooms consistent with multiple airships and installations."

"Oh crap," Sheppard said. "It's the Genii all over again."

Despite the threat to the Genii they had not been happy with simply abandoning all their holdings, their home in particular. It wasn't so much that Ladon wasn't open to the idea but that the people themselves weren't. They had dedicated their entire lives to building up their home only to simply give it all up. The Genii people had their pride and short of mass kidnappings they wouldn't be budged. Not being a dictator Ladon had bowed to the will of the public and agreed to not even briefly abandon their home. The only reason the allies weren't losing much sleep over it was the fact that the Genii world was already designed to keep its inhabitants hidden. If the Zarasians came along they would find abandoned farms and presume it was just another primitive world that had been evacuated. Well assuming they didn't look too closely that is.

"You do not think that your offer to improve their infrastructure will be enough to convince them?" Tomin asked.

"That works on the people who only have wooden huts for homes but these people have displayed technology well beyond that level," Rodney explained. "If they figure out how to generate electricity they could go a long way quickly with what they currently have."

"And for that reason what we are offering them isn't going to be enough to convince them," Sheppard said. "Not in the time we have."

With every passing moment the Zarasian fleet got closer and closer to this system and the allies were very much aware of this fact.

"We're going to have to defend this world," Sheppard concluded. "This means we need an army, a fleet and the local's permission to station them here."

"Luckily we have one in orbit already," Tomin said.

"Yeah about that," Sheppard said hesitantly. "I'm not sure your forces are suitable for taking on the Zarasians on the ground. No offence Tomin but I'm not sure you have the ability to hold this world against a dedicated siege."

"I realise that but I would still like to have my forces here," Tomin insisted.

"You also realise that you would need our help to hold this world for long without being overwhelmed," Sheppard pointed out.

"Not necessarily," Tomin replied. "We just need to hold out for a little while until the good guys turn up to chase us away."

"Explain please," Sheppard requested after a short pause. "I would very much like to know where this plan of yours came from."

"While I was waiting for your arrival I had a visit from some ascended beings," Tomin began.

"The ascended are supposed to have a none interference policy that prevents this sort of thing," McKay said. "Why did they break it?"

"They told me to tell you their names," Tomin replied. "Oma, Morgan and Janus."

McKay and Sheppard shared a look.

"Figures those three would turn up eventually," McKay said. "Though I don't think anyone thought it would be all at once."

"Ascended beings are like buses," Sheppard quipped. "You wait all this time and then three turn up at once."

"So what did they have to say?" McKay asked.

"Well…"

* * *

**Tomin's Quarters – A little while ago**

"Please explain," Tomin requested.

The three ascended began to circle him and Tomin spun on the spot, this way and that, struggling to keep them all in view.

"We have been watching you for some time Tomin," Oma said. "You and the men who now serve in the fleet gathered here. We know of the choice you offered them, the former crusaders of false gods, how you asked only for volunteers to fight this mission."

"They were not soldiers," Tomin explained. "They did not choose that fight, they merely fought in it. They have only received limited training and I would not order them to die for others. I only wanted volunteers to serve in my army."

"And volunteers you got, enough to defend this small world," Oma said.

"Barely and not for long," Tomin argued. "The casualties would be too high and before long we would be wiped out. I will not toss away the lives of my people."

"We wouldn't ask you to," Oma assured him. "You don't have to fight for long, just long enough."

"I find that a little deception can be useful to achieve the desired end result," Janus added. "Don't you agree Morgan?"

"How can I disagree?" she replied.

"What kind of deception?" Tomin asked, although he was beginning to suspect the answer.

"Your plan was a good one," Janus noted. "Keeping Zarin ignorant to the relationship between yourselves and the Jaffa would certainly have given Zarin something to think about. There is no reason not to continue it."

"You want me to continue the ruse," Tomin said. "Let them believe we are separate forces?"

"Just long enough for it to be convincing," Morgan said.

"Then help arrives to save the poor world from the two forces fighting over it, right?" Tomin asked. "We'll play another villain, so that Zarin won't suspect."

"You fear the consequences," Oma stated.

"The loss of life," Morgan added.

"The way the galaxy will see you," Janus added.

"I do," Tomin admitted. "You don't know what it is like to be seen that way. To give the orders that send people to their deaths."

"Who said anything about them dying?" Oma asked.

"One of Oma's little hobbies is helping those who she thinks are worthy of the gift of ascension," Janus explained.

"It seems she has found quite a few candidates in your people," Morgan added.

"You would help them ascend?" Tomin asked, scarcely able to believe it.

"So many of your people wish for redemption for what happened during the crusade," Oma said. "Yet they do not know quite how to attain redemption. You and they know that no one blames them for their actions yet that isn't enough for them. The men under your command have chosen to fight to protect innocents who they do not know because they believe it is the right thing to do. That is admirable. It is worthy of a gift."

"Thank you," Tomin said sincerely.

"Don't thank me yet," Oma said. "There is a price to be paid for what I offer."

"What kind of price?" Tomin asked, getting tired of these games.

"If they choose to ascend then they can retake human form but they will not be allowed to retain the knowledge they gain and the offer of ascension will not be given again," Oma said. "The others will not allow me to do so."

"Why not?" Tomin asked angrily.

"Because of how I know they would use this gift," Oma replied. "They will charge blindly at the enemy because they believe they can come back again and again. Life is precious Tomin, it should not be wasted."

"I cannot make this decision alone," Tomin said. "I have no right to."

"We do not expect you to," Janus said.

"Ask the opinion of your brave soldiers and let them guide you," Morgan added.

"And what should I tell my allies?" Tomin asked.

"The truth," Janus said. "The time for hiding in the shadows has long since passed."

"And our names," Oma added.

"You three have so much power, why…why do you not intervene?" Tomin asked expectantly. "You could find Zarin and end this so why don't you?"

"Because we are not omnipotent," Oma said. "We do not cast judgement on others. It is not our place."

"Besides the galaxy is a big place and Zarin is just one man," Janus added. "He doesn't like to be found."

Tomin narrowed his eyes in suspicion at those last words but before he could reply the lights had returned to normal and the three ascended had vanished.

* * *

**_Weir_**

"So what is your decision?" Tomin asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Sheppard remarked. "Although I am guessing you are willing to go ahead with this plan."

"We are decided," Tomin acknowledged. "It will happen. We will fight to defend this world for as long as we can."

"Okay fine but before that happens we are going to need a few things," Sheppard said. "I have a few ideas of my own."

"Such as?" Tomin asked.

"Wreckage that could only have been left by one of your ships," Sheppard asked. "A nice big piece too and I know just how to get it."

"You are not destroying one of my ships Colonel," Tomin stated.

Sheppard smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it Tomin, I just want the Zarasians to think we did."

"Then how do you plan to get the wreckage?" Tomin asked curiously.

"From the very first ship of yours that we destroyed," Sheppard replied.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	61. First Contact

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: It's rather like a complicated juggling act where i have so many things in the air and i find myself wondering just how i ended up with these elements hanging over my head. Somehow it all to seems to come together. I think the phrase is, only in sci-fi.**

**Cdoctor: You will never guess what i have planned for them.**

**vash1914: That's what this whole chapter is about, well sort of.**

**Oddliver: It'll take a little while but the fireworks will begin eventually.**

**Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**stormwolf3710: I'm a big fan of steampunk myself, which is why i wanted this to be viable.**

**BIG Z1776: You have no idea. Making a steam punk world work properly is not easy let me tell you.**

**SkywalkerT-65: Everyone has their own reaction to the images, it all comes down to association.**

**Jacen010: Deus Ex Machina is typically defined as pulling something out of your hat that never before existed to solve seemingly impossible to solve problems. I should point out that i have never spontaneously created new pieces of technology for a situation but have merely repurposed existing pieces of canonical technology, a fact i have repeatedly explained to you. Since you cannot give me any suitable examples even when asked i will presume that your response is merely down to your own lack of knowledge on stargate.**

* * *

**Mystery World**

The mystery world the _Weir_ was investigating had proven to have one thing in an endless supply, and that was sky. So far the crew hadn't seen a single speck of land through the thick cloud bank below and it looked like they wouldn't for some time. The locals apparently had no plans on leading them to the ground, the airship guiding them maintaining a constant altitude along with its steady, and admittedly slow, pace.

Sheppard was quite happy to keep things this way. It meant that they had time to plan their moves to counter Zarins inevitable offensive. He had already dispatched a pair of 306's to take the supergate back to the Milky Way galaxy and pick up the, at the time, Ori mothership debris. His only concern though was that if things dragged on too long then he would be looking at defending the world from the Zarasians without the locals support. Not something he was particularly looking forward to attempting since the Zarasians would undoubtedly be able to get boots on the ground eventually, which would make them very difficult to get rid of entirely.

The one thing he was happy about was that McKay had finally gotten the sensors calibrated to work despite the interference from the planets unusually high and inconsistent magnetic field. He currently had ISIS running through a detailed scan of the planet in the hopes that the information would give them some sort of edge they could use later on. If at all possible they were also looking to find the planets stargate so they could bring it back online as an act of good faith. Somehow he doubted they had simply buried the gate but it was possible. Either way he was hoping to gain a little insight into how these people had ended up off the grid.

The mighty vessel slowly made its way through the clouds that filled the sky. There seemed to be no end to them, from orbit the entire world seemed to be consumed by them. Yet it was beautiful up here, high in the sky, and most likely that tranquillity would be destroyed as war came to this world.

Around were numerous rocks of varying sizes but as they approached they began to see larger and larger ones. Though they didn't know for sure they suspected that there were entire floating islands up amongst the clouds. Quite possibly that was where these people had made a home for themselves.

It was obvious they were getting close to their end destination. Sensors were now able to detect numerous fighter sized craft around them running between the floating rocks. Apparently these rocks had buildings built on them and some even appeared to be mines for trinium and the superconductor that allowed for the rocks to defy gravity. The real hint that they were getting close was the ever increasing number of large ships and gliders around them. Naturally though these ships were hiding, or attempting to hide, behind the clouds and floating rocks but they were perfectly visible on the _Weir_'s sensors.

"Commander I have completed the sensor sweep," ISIS informed him.

"Bingo!" McKay exclaimed triumphantly. "I found it."

"Found what?" Sheppard asked.

"The stargate, I found this planets stargate."

"Are you sure it's the stargate?"

"A perfect ring of one of only two readings of naquadah on the planet? Yeah I'm sure."

"Okay fine I'll take your word for it, so where is it?"

"Buried under a ton of rock on the planets surface."

"How did that happen?"

"How should I know?" McKay asked. "I mean I can guess but aside from that I don't really know."

"Best guess then," Sheppard replied.

"Well it looks like one of those rocks fell on it."

"What do you mean fell on it?"

"I mean fell out of the sky right on top of the damn thing," McKay replied. "The interesting thing is though that the DHD has been moved elsewhere."

"Well that kind of makes sense," Sheppard answered. "It's the only one of the two that is light enough to be moved."

"Barely," McKay said. "If I had to guess I would say that they relocated away from the stargate and then later mined out one of those rocks until it fell out of the sky."

"What makes you say that?" Sheppard asked.

"Because the DHD is located on a floating island that just happens to have a large number of life signs," McKay answered. "More than any of the other islands."

"So you think that's there home?"

"Most likely, but we're not heading there. We're on a completely different course."

"So where are we heading? No scratch that, I can guess. Somewhere nice and secure where they will have a lot of guns pointed at us."

"Judging from the size of those ships I would say a lot of big guns," McKay said. "These guys really like their big ships."

"If you thought the Wraith were going to descend on you then so would you."

"True," McKay admitted. "Hey look, they're signalling us."

The airship in front of them had begun to emit a series of flashes, which was apparently their version of Morse code. Before leaving on this trip they had been given the decryption key for the individual flashes.

"They are saying we will shortly be arriving at our destination," ISIS translated. "We are instructed to lower our speed by half and await further instructions."

"Helm," Sheppard said.

"Aye sir."

"Tell Tomin we are about to begin talks with the natives," ordered Sheppard. "Oh and inform him that I may have co-ordinates for his ships to travel to."

"Are you planning something again?" McKay asked.

"Just preparing a little insurance," Sheppard said. "I get the feeling we are looking at a hard sell here."

"You think?" McKay asked sarcastically. "They've been cut off from the rest of the galaxy for who knows how long. We're lucky they still remember the Wraith, and that by the way is not a conversation I am looking forward to."

"Yeah I know but at least it means we can give them some good news," Sheppard replied. "We are telling them that their world is about to be invaded after all."

"Not to mention that we have to let it be guarded by complete strangers," McKay added.

"Thank you for the reminder. I'll be sure to mention that when I talk to them."

"I've got a lock on the stargate. Do you want me to beam it up?"

"Just the stargate, leave the DHD where it is."

"It's in the cargo bay," Rodney reported after a few moments.

"The airship is signalling that we are about to arrive and that we are to follow them into dock," ISIS reported, following another round of signal flashes.

The clouds parted as the _Weir_ followed the airship. By now there were dozens of the bird like flying craft they had spotted earlier flying along with them. At such a close range they could clearly see that they were man made. They even had a small steam engine and a propeller on their backs to provide additional thrust. Those that flocked around them came in several sizes. Some were nothing more than a pair of bat wings and a propeller while others were bigger and quite clearly armed but apparently less manoeuvrable.

In the distance they could see the stark outlines of other airships, both bigger and smaller than the one they were following. Sensors were reading dozens of contact both small and large. Some of them were tiny, not much larger than a transport shuttle, while others were massive, almost as big as the _Weir_ herself.

Ahead of them was a massive rock that had been colonised and dug into to a certain extent. Across its surface were large numbers of lights and weapon emplacements, meant to deter attackers. Of course against something like a Wraith attack those defences would probably have proven to be ineffective, if not useless. When you face an enemy that can bombard you from orbit without fear of retaliation a large number of guns don't tend to be of much use. Presumably though those weapons were meant to defend the base against an enemy incursion, since fighter craft would have a hard time getting through the flak they could undoubtedly throw up. Even the Wraith wouldn't needlessly kill the humans they intended to feed upon. Unfortunately if the Zarasians ever launched an attack they would most likely just send wave after wave of fighters regardless of the losses, since they could always just make more reapers to replace their losses. Failing that they would just blast the rock out of the sky rather than go through the trouble of capturing it.

Still though it was certainly impressive what they had built here. The inside of this rock held caverns that could easily house the _Weir_ inside along with a number of other ships. For a race that apparently hadn't even discovered electricity yet this was certainly an accomplishment. As they entered the large cavern they could see large pieces of machinery, all steam powered, and numerous structures that formed the dockyards of the base. There were also the distinct silhouette of multiple weapon emplacements, each and every one turning to face the ship and tracking her movement.

"We're being told to land in the lit up area," ISIS reported.

One of the largest dockyards was lit up by large red lamps around the perimeter, highlighting it amongst the dark unoccupied others. With precision control the _Weir_ descended as the landing supports lowered and locked into place. Gently the massive ship touched down into the dock, her antigravity systems causing her to barely make the ground shudder from her landing. Throughout the dock ant like figures could be seen scurrying closer to get a better look at the alien vessel while inside the _Weir_ the crew peered out of windows, just as curious as the aliens outside.

"Keep our shields up," Sheppard ordered. "I don't care how much we want these people to like us, I am not risking them trying to capture or destroy this ship."

"Aye sir."

"You know it is really unlikely those guns can go through our armour," McKay pointed out.

"I know that, you know that and everyone on this ship knows that," Sheppard replied. "However those people out there don't know that and I would rather not have them try it. At the very least they could damage our weapons and I would rather that didn't happen. That reminds me, lower the blast shutters."

"Aye sir."

Across the hull of the _Weir_, blast shutters as thick as the hull of the ship slid into place, covering every window, port hole and viewing platform under a protective sheet of armour. As the last of the hatches slid into place over the bridge viewing port hologram projectors automatically activated, conforming perfectly to the windows and providing the same view that would normally be available with the shutters retracted.

From the outside the ship now seemed completely protected on all fronts, without a single vulnerability that an enemy could exploit. The gleaming armour combined with the numerous, idle yet apparent, weapon emplacements dotting her hull gave onlookers a simple message. We're in control of what happens to our ship so do not even think about trying anything.

Sheppard wondered if word of their advanced weaponry had reached the ears of the people here yet. Most likely it had since they had detected a small craft leave the airship before on the same heading they had taken. The knowledge of the firepower the Weir possessed, along with her shields, would hopefully act as a deterrent for itchy trigger fingers. At the very least it would mean they wouldn't be taken lightly.

Even though he was being cautious he did acknowledge that the natives were showing some signs of trusting him. They had allowed his access to one of their bases when they could have easily asked him to stay outside. Hopefully this meant they were willing to give diplomacy a try rather than start a shooting match. Still he couldn't help but notice the fact that while they were technically inside the base the cavern had been designed in such a way that the walls were just as armed and armoured as the exterior. Arguably the only difference between being inside the cavern and on the outside of this floating rock, ignoring the docks with their few inhabited buildings, was that on the outside they didn't have guns pointed at them on all sides.

"We are receiving another message," ISIS reported. "We are being instructed to await for a designated official to arrive to talk to us."

"Rodney anything on sensors?" Sheppard asked.

"You mean other than the large number of contacts of all sizes that are clustered around this floating rock?" McKay asked. "Nothing noteworthy."

"What about around their largest settlement?" Sheppard asked. "Anything coming from there?"

"Far from it," McKay replied. "They seem to be consolidating assets around that location and fortifying their position. But no craft are coming out of there to suggest they are sending an ambassador or someone important who wouldn't otherwise be stationed elsewhere. They appear to adopting a defensive stance from the off since we showed off our capabilities."

"I see all those games of chess have taught you basic tactics," Sheppard remarked.

"Or maybe I've been spending too much time with the military," McKay shot back.

Sheppard chuckled. "Looks like we're going to be here for awhile. Good thing I already sent off those standing orders."

"Yeah I figure the _Chekov_ and the _Vaselov_ should be arriving anytime now."

"How did those two ships end up being sent at the same time?"

Rodney shrugged. "They happened to be near each other and were the closest ships to the supergate."

* * *

**Alpha Site**

A hyperspace window opened and deposited two 306's, minus their escorts. For the mission they were on the extra space in the main hanger was needed for another purpose. The first part of the mission they had been given required them to pick up a few thousand items fresh off the production line.

The _Chekov_ and the _Vaselov_ were both Russian ships named after two very famous Russian officers, or at least they were famous to those in the SGC. Colonel Chekov had been the long time liaison to the SGC before he had met his untimely death during the Battle of the Supergate along with the entire crew of the _Korolev_. Before then Colonel Vaselov had sacrificed himself by allowing Anubis to possess him in order to escape. Coincidentally he had saved then Lt General O'Neill in the process by forcing the half ascended being to give up possession of Jack's body. That single courageous act had earned him a place of honour in the memories of those present. Jack had all but insisted on the two ship names.

The first part of their mission consisted of towing the wreckage from the first Ori mothership that they had ever destroyed. Since that one had been destroyed by the activation of the supergate the only piece barely intact was the rear section where the sublight engines were located. Unfortunately that meant that there had been little to know technology to be reverse engineered after its recovery by the Tau'ri forces. Of course even with this being the case they had made sure to gather every single piece of the wreckage left by that ship since there was no way they were going to let other, potentially unscrupulous, forces get their hands on it. For the sake of safety two ships were being tasked with towing the wreckage to guarantee it arrived safely.

The other part of the mission entailed picking up the latest in UAV fighter technology. It was a long acknowledged fact that an air force was not composed entirely of pilots, far from it in fact, and certainly not enough to fill the cockpits of all the 302's the fleet could carry. Nevertheless the 302's had been built and at last they would take flight. When the 302's had been designed they had included an ejection system in the form of the entire cockpit system separating from the fighter craft. Now an alternative to the standard manned cockpit had been built that contained a dedicated control computer with an inbuilt artificial intelligence modelled on a number of different pilots. The advantage of such a section was that it could easily be replaced with a standard cockpit at a moments notice, could perform complex calculations, like those needed for short hyperspace jumps, in an instant and meant that the pilot could never actually be killed. The sections were also covered in a thick plate of armour, since there was no one to look out the window so to speak, making the overall fighter slightly more durable than the manned versions. In combat the UAV's would be a fearsome opponent to take on, especially on mass since they were able to co-ordinate with one another.

With the control sections taking up every single bit of space possible and the wreckage of the Ori mothership under tow the two 306's jumped to hyperspace on a course for the supergate.

* * *

**Mystery World**

"We really need to find out the name of this place," Rodney said.

"Assuming they even have a name for this planet," John replied. "A lot of people have too much on their minds to bother coming up with a name for their planet. Besides, home is home as far as most people are concerned."

"True," Rodney admitted.

"You found anything interesting on sensors," John asked.

"Well it's hard to be certain but I do believe there are some animals present on the surface and around some of the floating rocks."

"So the planet has native wildlife, that's not too hard to believe."

"Yeah but they are pretty big creatures, especially the flying ones."

"How big?"

"Bigger than a horse."

John let out a low whistle. "Those are some big birds."

"Assuming they're birds."

"Meaning?"

"Well we've encountered dinosaurs before, would flying lizards really be out of the question."

John chuckled. "What you mean like dragons?"

"You said it not me, but you never know."

"So long as they don't breathe fire I don't really care. ISIS."

"Yes Commander," ISIS said.

"What's the status of the _Korolev_ and the _Vaselov_?" Sheppard asked.

"They have travelled through the supergate to pick up the wreckage pieces and the UAV cockpit sections," ISIS reported. "They have yet to return however."

"Let me know when they arrive in system."

"Yes Commander."

"Now we just need to decide which system they are going to drop in on," Rodney added.

"Don't tell me, you have an idea."

"Actually I do," Rodney said smugly.

"So spill it already."

"You remember when the Jaffa encountered the Zarasians?"

"It wasn't that long ago Rodney."

"Right, of course you do. Anyway, they dropped out at the system with the stargate which got me thinking. The Averians, and by default the Zarasians, had a whole list of gate addresses, probably a copy of the list on Atlantis."

"Makes sense, go on."

"What if they are trying to go about this logically and are searching systems with stargates in them. Logically those would be the planets you would expect to have a native human population so they would be targets of choice for Zarin to commit forces to. There is one other system in this cluster with a stargate so the Zarasians will most likely check that one out first."

"I have to admit Rodney you certainly seem to have thought this through," John said, impressed. "I guess I wrong."

"How so?" Rodney asked, confused.

"The military seems to have rubbed off on you," John replied with a grin.

"That supposed to be a compliment?" Rodney asked with a crooked grin.

"The best you're getting," John replied, his grin remaining in place.

John sighed. "What the hell is taking so long?"

Obviously he was referring to the meeting with the representatives from this mystery world. If they wanted to defend this world properly then they needed the co-operation of the native people.

"A lack of radios maybe?" Rodney suggested. "These people have to send a messenger whenever they want to talk so it's not that surprising really."

"Well if this goes on any longer I'm going to fly this ship over their supposed capital and talk to their leader in person," John said adamantly.

Rodney frowned. "You can't be serious."

"If it means saving lives you bet your ass I'm serious," John answered sternly.

Rodney chose not to comment. He knew that his friend was under a lot of pressure with the Zarasian threat hanging over their heads like an executioner's blade. For all their advanced technology, their allies and their determination to protect everyone they could the Zarasians had been preparing to conquer this galaxy for centuries. They would protect what they could but their backs were up against the wall as long as the Zarasians were in a position to strike from the shadows.

"ISIS, bring the main running lights online," Rodney ordered. There was one thing he could do to speed this up.

Along the hull of the _Weir_ the seldom used lights came online.

"Encode a flash message and transmit it on all the main bulbs," Rodney ordered. "Message reads as follows, we repeat our request for an urgent meeting with your planetary leaders."

"Done," ISIS said.

"You can do that as many times as you like Rodney but I really doubt it will do much good," John said.

"Maybe but at least in here a lot of people will see it, hopefully someone higher up the food chain than that airship captain," Rodney replied optimistically.

"You're right, good thinking," John admitted.

"Commander we are receiving a reply," ISIS said. "They are considering our request."

"Tell them we mean them no harm but if we don't speak to someone soon we'll go and find someone to listen to what we have to say," Sheppard ordered, causing Rodney to flinch.

"Processing," ISIS said. It takes a while to send a message when each individual letter has its own sequence, at least at a speed that someone can read and translate by hand.

For a little while silence reigned as they anxiously awaited a reply.

"They say that a representative will be with us shortly," ISIS said eventually.

"Tell them I will be waiting outside the ship," Sheppard said. "Oh and put a spotlight on me."

In the dockyard Sheppard appeared in holographic form under the bright light of a powerful spotlight. The goal was to attract attention and get him noticed and judging by the number of figures cautiously approaching in the distance it was working.

Slowly the party approached him and although he couldn't see them his instincts told him that he was being scrutinised. If he had to guess there were snipers ready to fire at him and a lot of big guns pointed at the _Weir_.

He really wasn't worried about them taking a shot at him or the ship while the shields were raised but he knew it would be counterproductive to arranging to protect this planet.

The group that approached him consisted of a dozen soldiers in dark green military uniforms, all armed with rifles, and an older man who was also in uniform. It looked he was indeed going to be talking to someone higher up the food chain since the older mans uniform was more heavily decorated than the other soldiers. Quite possibly this man was in charge of this base.

"Hello," Sheppard said politely. "I'm Colonel John Sheppard of the Tau'ri."

"What is your purpose here Colonel Sheppard?" the old man rasped.

Sheppard kept his face neutral but his brain was churning as he took in the, apparently, old mans appearance. The way he spoke made him seem old, frail even and that fact was further exaggerated by the slight slump to his stance. It was easy to imagine him being given a boring desk job where he would be out of the way and wouldn't be required to push himself too hard. The gray hair, the small round spectacles he was squinting through, his weak stance and the raspy voice all painted a picture of a man past well past his prime. Those guards were probably here to carry away just in case he ran out of energy trying to walk here, which would certainly explain their slow pace earlier. But something was nagging at him about this man.

"We have come to make peaceful contact with your people," Sheppard explained. "And to warn you about a threat to your world."

"We are aware of the Wraith."

"It is not the Wraith that you have to worry about," Sheppard replied. "We took care of that problem."

"You defeated the Wraith?"

"Not all of them," Sheppard answered. "We found a way to remove the need to feed on humans. Those that accepted our gift became our allies. Those that didn't were destroyed by us and our allies."

"You call the Wraith allies?" the old man rasped. "After all that they have done, why?"

"Because given the choice they made the right one."

The old man smiled amusedly. "If the choice is between life and death do you really think there is a choice?"

"If death is certain then it is," Sheppard replied. "Their leader wanted what was best for her people and to put and end to the death on both sides. That's a goal I can admire."

"So you trust them?"

"I didn't at first."

"And now?"

"They haven't given me a reason not to and so long as they don't try and conquer the galaxy I don't have a reason to dislike them."

"You are willing to forgive the deaths of so many at their hands?"

"I suppose it comes down to the question, if we were addicted to the life force of humans what would we have done?"

"An interesting question. What is this threat?"

"A race called the Zarasians. They wish to eliminate the Wraith and anyone who gets in their way."

"And how are they a threat to us?"

"They are coming here."

"You have brought your war to our world?" the old man accused. "Why? Where is the sense in doing so?"

"I said they are coming here," Sheppard repeated. "They aren't following us, one of their fleets is heading in the direction of your world and eventually they will find you."

"So leave and they will have no reason to bother us," the old man replied sharply. "Or destroy them before they get here. Leave my world out of your fight."

Suddenly everything seemed to make sense. The nagging doubt he had felt before was suddenly gone as the image of a tired old man vanished. The man that stood before him was a strong, proud warrior who would do anything to protect his people. Time may have left its mark but it had yet to claim his spirit. This frail old man persona was just an act, a mask he had donned so that Sheppard would underestimate him. It was obvious now that he thought about it. Those clever questions and responses that had been both insightful and sharp as a knife while giving nothing away, not even his name, should have alerted him to the deception. It was the eyes he realised, those electric blue, sharp and clever eyes that had constantly been studying him, and hinting of intelligence, were the nagging doubt from earlier.

"The Zarasians plan for victory involves bringing this entire galaxy under their control and annihilating those that stop them," Sheppard explained. "They will come to this world and conquer it and my people and our allies are your only chance of surviving them."

"And why should I believe what you are telling me?" the older man asked. "Why shouldn't I just give the order to open fire on your ship right now rather than allow you to maintain a military presence here?"

"Because you know that won't do you any good," Sheppard replied firmly.

The two stared at each other.

"I need proof," the older man said.

"How about this for starters then?"

A flash of white light momentarily engulfed Sheppard. When it vanished a large metallic ring surrounded him.

"That is…that's…" the old man stammered, shocked by what his eyes had just registered. "I've only ever seen pictures…crude drawings…the ring of the ancestors, how is this possible? It was lost long ago, before my time."

"We detected the presence of the naquadah and beamed it to our ship," Sheppard explained. "We can put it anywhere you want."

"Why have you done this?"

Sheppard shrugged. "Call it an act of good faith. But let me ask you something if we really wanted to conquer this world we would just stand here talking to you?"

"If you wanted minimal resistance then maybe and didn't want to have to fight us for every inch."

"But I haven't asked you to surrender."

"Not yet."

"Not ever."

"I hope that is true."

"Sir!" yelled a young man, running towards the group.

"What is it?" the older man barked.

"Sir, outside, there are ships!"

"Like that one?" the older man asked, indicating the _Weir_.

The young man shook his head, fear evident in his eyes just as the ground shook.

"What was that?" the older man asked, as he struggled to maintain his balance.

"They're firing weapons sir. They're destroying the rocks around us indiscriminately. That last one must have been close for us to feel the shockwave. We'll probably be next."

The old man stared at Sheppard, who stared back impassively. "The Zarasians?"

* * *

**Please Review.**


	62. Friends or Enemies

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: The hard part will be working to defend the planet while dealing with the locals. If it was just an abandoned planet with no one there except the two sides fighting it would be much easier for the allies because of the lack of civilians running around.**

**Oddliver: War, and the horrors it involves, should never be taken lightly. And on that i can definetly say that fighting to the last man only happens when retreat isn't possible.**

**Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**stormwolf3710: Good question.**

**BIG Z1776: Pilot shortage is another reason. In order to use all the birds they now have they need some way to replace people as pilots.**

**SkywalkerT-65: Everyone has their own reaction to the images, it all comes down to association.**

**romanhellhound: He isn't exactly the head of the military but he does have a lot of experience under his belt, and of course is the man in charge of that rather large military fleet base.**

**EPetrelli: The Genii are way more advanced technologically i think you'll find since they have electricity, computers, nuclear reactors, nuclear weapons, etc. If they emerge on the galactic stage it won't be until after a major industrial revolution and of course after the war.**

**Chronus1326: Railguns are out of the question i'm afraid since they lack electricity to power it. They do however have a sizeable amount of projectile weaponry.**

**Guest: One of the things i have been doing is having multinationalities on major installations. Ships is a little more difficult but with the introduction of the fleet training school and the pooled personnel for the fleet i am hoping to make some headway.**

**Cdoctor: Enjoy.**

**Aerchangel: Thank you.**

**Monsterjeffbuk: Well not right away but eventually they will. As for the ending, well we shall see.**

**Kevin Trino: While i have mentioned the shields the Liberum ships used and maybe in passing mentioned the main beam weapon i really don't recall actually talking about the weapons used by the ships. I can't actually seem to find where the description you are talking about resides in my story. I am however fully aware of the number of secondary weapons featured on the warships. Don't worry you weren't ranting or whiny, although i do wish you would create an account. I'm happy to talk to my readers about ideas but i can't do that if i can't message them.**

* * *

**Mystery World**

"No," Sheppard said. "Not the Zarasians."

"Then who?" the older man, clearly agitated.

Around them the entire base, which had seemingly been holding its breath in anticipation until now, had come alive with activity.

"You're afraid," Sheppard noted.

"They're attacking us!" the old responded angrily.

"Actually they just destroyed a few uninhabited rocks," Sheppard pointed out. "They never caused any actual casualties."

"Why are you speaking in the past tense?"

"Because it happened in the past."

"They aren't attacking us anymore?" the older man asked, looking around at his soldiers. "Someone get me confirmation of this, now!"

"What have you done?" he asked angrily, rounding on Sheppard.

Sheppard just stood there impassively, not showing any visible reaction to the anger directed at him.

"They aren't going to hurt you," Sheppard said.

"What have you done?" the older man repeated.

"I'm sorry I had to do that but it was necessary," Sheppard said.

"Tell me what you did!"

"I asked them to give you a small taste of what it would be like if the Zarasians came to your world," Sheppard explained. "Minus the casualties of course. You needed to realise the danger that enemy like the Zarasians presents to you."

"Why would you do this?"

"Because I don't have time to waste convincing you of the danger you are in," Sheppard answered. "You had to know that you couldn't win, you could barely even offer minimal resistance if they came for you."

"That was unnecessary," the older man argued.

"No, casualties were unnecessary," Sheppard said. "That is why I made sure there weren't any."

The older man silently fumed in outrage. "All units are to stand down. They are not to engage the unknowns unless fired upon. Send the necessary flash commands."

"Yes sir," the young man replied before running back the way he came.

"What do you want from us?"

"We want to help you," Sheppard said. "Those ships out there belong to our allies, a race of humans called the Liberum, and if you'll let us they'll be deployed here to protect your planet. If they're not enough then we'll send in more forces."

"Deployed where exactly?"

"Wherever you'll allow. Ideally they could use a base of yours to use as their own to draw the attention of the Zarasians."

"I do not have the authority to allow such a thing, and quite frankly I still have a hard time believing you."

"I know."

There was another flash of light and a small white dome like object appeared on the ground in between them. On the side of the strange object were several buttons.

"That is a holographic projector," Sheppard explained. "The big button in the middle turns it on and off. The smaller one above that pauses or resumes the recording. The ones on the left and right are rewind and fast forwards respectively."

"What is it for?"

"It contains recordings on all the information we have on the Wraith, their recent history and our conflicts and encounters with the Zarasians. It should help to get the ball rolling a little faster. Oh and it also contains information about us, our allies and the Zarasians."

The older man nodded. "I'll see that this reaches the necessary people."

"Ideally it'll go straight to the top," Sheppard responded. "What do you want us to do with the stargate?"

"Take it away for now," the older man replied. "It was buried for a reason."

Sheppard nodded and another flash of light consumed the gate leaving behind a small white stone in its place.

"Use that to contact us," Sheppard said. "Just push the button and I will appear."

"Very well," the older man said. "Oh and Colonel, before you go there is something you should know."

"What's that?"

"If I think for a single moment that you mean my people any harm then I will not hesitate to open fire on your ship with everything I have."

Silence reigned for a few short seconds until Sheppard nodded. "I would expect nothing less."

"Oh and my name is Kavier."

"Just Kavier?"

"For now."

"Fair enough."

With those final words his hologram shimmered and vanished, as the engines of the _Weir_ powered up. Slowly the large vessel departed, leaving the military base and rising out the atmosphere. The four Liberum warships followed close behind.

* * *

**_Weir_**** – Bridge **

Sheppard sighed deeply before slumping into his chair. That little ordeal had more of an effect on him than he had imagined.

"Well that could have gone much worse," Rodney noted. "It was nice of them not to fire on us while our shields were down."

Sheppard sighed again. "Thank you for that Rodney. It's not like I felt bad enough that I ran the risk of making them turn away any help we offered them."

Rodney gripped his friends shoulder comfortingly.

"You did the right thing," he said. "I know you don't like it but you did what was necessary given the situation."

"I hope so," Sheppard said, though he didn't sound very confident. "This could still go badly."

"It already is going badly," Rodney pointed out. "The Zarasians are heading to this system and eventually they will get here. We've done everything we can while telling them the truth. The alternative was kidnapping them or faking a natural disaster."

"Yeah because that would be so bad," Sheppard deadpanned. "With our transport beams we could have them off the surface before they even knew what was happening."

"It would be when they found out," Rodney pointed out. "We're supposed to be the good guys after all."

"Yeah well I just hope they accept our help, if not then this is going to be much harder to pull off."

* * *

**Higher Plain**

The higher plain where the ascended beings resided was a curious place. It many ways it had no actual substance, its shape and form was determined by whoever happened to inhabit the area at the time. It took on a shape that the inhabitant could understand, comprehend, somewhere of significance to them and it was even possible for other ascended beings to share in that image. Each ascended could essentially carve out there own corner as it were. Whenever Daniel Jackson had visited the higher plain Oma had shaped it to take the form of a café he had visited as a child, Oma was kind like that.

To Morgan though the higher plain just looked like soft white light. She was simply here for a purpose and was not particularly concerned with her surroundings.

"You know why I am here," Morgan said.

Circling her was a mass of glowing shapes. They were all ascended beings."

"Yes."

"You are uncertain."

"Afraid."

"You fear our response."

The ascended did not speak with one voice but the voices of many, although when they were of a similar mind it did indeed seem like one voice. Some chose to speak, others remained silent.

"No," Morgan said. "I am not afraid. I am merely curious."

"Curious about what we will do."

"Curious about whether we will allow you to do as you wish."

"As Janus wishes."

"It is not just Janus," Morgan responded. "I agree with him. It should be done."

"You know the rules."

"You know why we don't simply do as we please."

"Our actions have consequences."

"The lower plains are not our concern."

"We cannot alter the balance."

"You call this balance?" Morgan protested. "This is chaos. War will eventually consume not just one but several galaxies if we do not stop it now."

"It may happen."

"It may not."

"You would allow billions to suffer while we sit back and do nothing?" Morgan asked angrily.

"That may happen."

"That may not."

"You know what we are going to do," Morgan said. "What will you do?"

"You know the rules. You should obey them."

"Who said that?" Morgan demanded. "Come forward."

"I did," a male voice intoned.

Before her a glowing being reshaped itself into the shape of a man. He wore Lantean robes and had grey, spiky hair. On his face he wore a stony expression.

"Vejovis!"

"You know the rules Morgan," he said.

"I do not see this as interference, merely righting a wrong. This should never have been allowed to happen."

"That is not your decision to make," Vejovis stated.

"You were a healer Vejovis. You cannot tell me that you want to see people suffer."

"You are right, I don't."

"So why are you against this?"

"The rules are the rules. It is that simple."

"Nothing is ever that simple."

"Pretend it is."

"Why?"

Vejovis looked at her gravely.

"I fear for you Ganos. I fear what may happen to you, Janus and Oma should you continue on this path."

"You think the others will interfere."

"You will not be allowed to interfere. Our powers were not meant for this."

"I can't believe you would stand by and do nothing."

"Everything happens for a reason Ganos."

"The reason being because no one acted, but it is not too late."

"Let things play out the way they are intended to Ganos. Please don't interfere. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Will you stop us?" Morgan demanded. "You alone cannot stop us."

Vejovis frowned but did not answer.

"Will you stop us?" Morgan asked, addressing the other ascended.

Once again the answer was silence.

"What will happen will happen," Vejovis said before vanishing.

"What will happen, will happen," the others agreed.

Slowly the other ascended began to depart.

"Beware what lies hidden in the shadows."

She could not be certain exactly who had said that. It seemed like a collection of people giving her the same warning. The real question though was not who had said it but what did it mean?

"I don't know," Janus said, after Morgan had reunited with him and Oma and explained her encounter with the other ascended. "I suppose we will just have to wait and see."

"That could be dangerous," Morgan pointed out.

"Yes but in this case we have no choice," Janus argued. "There is already so much hidden in the shadows that we don't know about anyway."

"Which rather makes our plan to remove Zarin from the equation difficult to say the least," Oma noted.

"He'll show himself eventually," Janus said. "He won't be content to simply sit back and watch everything happen without seeing it for himself. Remember he took an active part in the attack of one of the Wraith worlds."

"And hasn't been seen since," Morgan noted.

"We live in hope don't we," Janus replied.

"Yes we do," Morgan said.

"The others could intercede though," Oma said.

"Vejovis certainly seemed to think so," Morgan added.

"Now there is a name I haven't heard in a long time," Janus mused. "I thought he had disappeared, apparently not."

"Some people just prefer to be left alone," Morgan said.

"Unless a fair maiden happens to be on the verge of doing something that could go badly for her," Janus noted.

Morgan glared at him in response.

"Apparently," Oma agreed.

"I guess that means he thinks the other will definitely try to stop us," Morgan surmised.

"It's a risk but one we'll just have to take I'm afraid," Janus said dismissively. "If Zarin is allowed to continue unchecked it could be disastrous."

"We act now and we could save countless lives," Oma said.

"Yes we could," Morgan agreed.

"So we're going ahead with this then?" Janus asked.

The others nodded.

"Good," Janus said. "Now let's get out there and gut this bastard."

* * *

**Unknown System**

A hyperspace window opened and deposited a group of five Zarasian strike craft back into real space, to a very interesting sight. In front of them was the planet they had come to investigate, and a quick sweep with the sensors failed to detect any life signs on the planets surface. However the interesting thing lay beyond the planet and consisted of a group of ships, apparently engaged in a battle.

As the strike craft moved closer to investigate the details became clearer. One large ship, at least a kilometre long, was fighting against a group of four much smaller craft. There was a sizeable chunk of wreckage that appeared to be the remains of one of the larger ships. The four smaller ships were immediately recognisable as being Tau'ri Night Fury's but the larger ship had never been seen before by the Zarasians.

The Night Fury wolf pack were moving as fast as their powerful sublight engines would allow, desperately evading the weapons fire of the oval shaped warship. Beams of yellow light tore through space from the massive emitter on the front of the craft but failed to find their mark. In response the Night Fury's fired their plasma beams, each impact steadily decreasing the strength of the shields of the large ship.

As the strike craft moved closer the Night Fury's scattered and activated their cloaking devices. A little while later they de-cloaked, having moved out of range of the bigger ship, and entered hyperspace. Having lost its target the larger ship turned towards the strike craft but they engaged their own hyperdrives and moved on to the next system.

* * *

**Mystery World**

The planet that had been jokingly nicknamed the world of Calium, which meant sky in the Alteran language, by the allies was about to get its next batch of unwanted guests. In orbit of the planet were four Liberum warships and, unknown to the five Zarasian strike craft that exited hyperspace, the _Weir_ under cloak.

The moment the Zarasian vessels exited hyperspace the Liberum vessels powered their weapons and shields. Just like when they had encountered the Jaffa the Zarasian vessels failed to act aggressively. They raised their shields and started scanning but did not power their weapons in response the obvious threat afforded by the Liberum ships.

"This is the Liberum vessel _Liberatus_ calling the unknown vessels identify yourselves at once."

"This is the Liberum vessel _Liberatus_ calling the unknown vessels identify yourselves at once."

"This is the Liberum vessel _Liberatus_ calling the unknown vessels identify yourselves at once or you will be fired upon."

On the bridge of his flagship Tomin sighed. At this rate they were going to have to wait for an invasion fleet to arrive before they officially made contact with the Zarasians. It was time to up the ante a little.

"This world and its inhabitants are claimed on behalf of the Liberum people," he said. "Cease your scans at once or you will be fired upon."

By now the Zarasian ships would have detected the life signs on the planets surface but realised that the interference from the planets magnetic field was preventing them from getting further details. However the information about this being a subject world would hopefully convince the Zarasians that it wasn't as well defended as they thought and might prompt the ships to push into the atmosphere. It was a cruel thing to do to the natives but it was the only way to convince them to accept help. If a fleet meant to invade this world arrived then it would be too late to erect defences. Their only hope right now was to use the time that it would take for the invasion fleet to arrive to prepare.

Unfortunately the Zarasians seemed to be content to simply sit there and just scan away, trying to get as much information as was possible given the interference. Plan A hadn't worked. Plan B seemed to be having no effect either. Time for plan C it would seem, and he really hoped this one would work because there was no plan D to try before simply opening fire.

"Identify yourselves immediately. I warn you, if that is you, you Tau'ri dogs then you will not be shown any mercy."

"Sir, power levels on the Zarasian vessels are rising."

"Sir, we are receiving a transmission from the Zarasian vessels."

"Greetings people of the Liberum. I am Etere Zarin, leader of the Zarasian Empire. Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

On the holographic display an image of Zarin popped up. Like when the Jaffa had spoken to him sensors registered that the transmission was coming from all five vessels simultaneously, with the ships being used as a relay.

"I am Commander Tomin of the Liberum people. What is your purpose here?"

"I understand we have a common enemy, the Tau'ri."

"And just what do you know of the Tau'ri Etere Zarin," Tomin asked suspiciously.

Zarin smiled. "Well for one I thing I know that they are outsiders to this galaxy who seek to extend their influence whether we want them here or not. For another I know that they destroyed one of your ships not long ago. I also know that I would not be unhappy if they were destroyed."

"And why are they your enemy?"

"Does that really matter?" Zarin asked dismissively.

Tomin narrowed his eyes. "If it means that I have reason to make you my enemy then maybe."

"We simply wish to extend our borders and increase our holdings," Tomin explained.

"As does the Zarasian Empire," Zarin replied. "However the Tau'ri like to make it their jobs to deny us that right. At the very least we would see them expelled from this galaxy."

"Such a feat would not be easy to accomplish though," Tomin noted. "They are sure to contest our claim on this world."

"Perhaps I can help with that," Zarin suggested.

"How?"

"By sending a fleet of my own to assist in the defence of your claim. When the Tau'ri come, and make no mistake they will come. You will need all the help you can get to defend against them."

"Very well then," Tomin agreed. "Send your ships and pull your current ones back. However if you plan to betray me then you will regret it."

"Oh don't worry," Zarin assured him. "You can trust me."

* * *

**_Weir_**** - Bridge**

"This is what you summoned me to see?" Kavier asked irritably.

One moment he had been resting in his quarters before finding himself on the bridge of the Weir in front of a smiling Sheppard. Needless to say he hadn't been happy.

"I thought you should see it," Sheppard replied.

"Why? Now the Liberum and Zarin supposedly have an alliance," Kavier noted. "I fail to see the point."

"Because Zarin is eventually going to betray the Liberum," Sheppard said. "We just needed him to think that the Liberum are occupied fighting us first so that he won't worry too much about them attacking him."

"How can you be so sure that Zarin will betray the Liberum?" Kavier asked sceptically.

"Because it's in his nature," Sheppard replied. "Remember what you saw in those recordings. The first time we tried to make peace with him he attacked during negotiations and had boots on one of our space stations within an hour. You can't trust that man as far as you can throw him."

"So you expect him to eventually attack my world anyway?"

"Of course and in the long run it works out better for us."

"How?"

"Because by the time he does attack we can have prepared defences so that we're ready for him. We're also going to weaken our defences here to make him think that it is a good idea to attack."

"But surely it is better if he doesn't attack?"

"Of course its better," Sheppard said, with a look on his face that said it should be obvious. "We just need to test him to see if he will, so we'll tell him that the Liberum Homeworld is under attack and pull back some of our ships. If he doesn't attack then wonderful, but if he does then we'll be ready."

"Why do I get the feeling that you would rather he did attack?" Kavier asked suspiciously.

"Because that wouldn't actually be a bad thing," Sheppard replied.

"How?" Kavier asked in disbelief.

"Because, no offense to the Liberum, but almost every one of the allies has a much better fighting force available to protect a planet," Sheppard said. "Zarin attacks we can turn up and since the Liberum will most likely be on the losing side they can turn tale and run while Zarin has to deal with us, and he'll find us much harder to deal with."

"You really think he will attack us?"

"No I know he'll eventually attack you," Sheppard replied. "The key point is to decide when he attacks you."

"How long do you believe we have to prepare our defences?" Kavier asked.

"Hard to say," Sheppard replied. "It would take about a day for those ships to reach here from where they came from. However if he is going to have to gather his forces for an invasion then I would say a week tops at best."

"That is not a lot of time," Kavier noted.

"No but it is time we didn't have before," Sheppard replied. "And with those ships gone for the meantime we can prepare our defences faster than we would anyway. I suggest you start fortifying your position."

"Oh you can count on that," Kavier said. "Now if you don't mind I need to report this."

"Beam him down," Sheppard ordered.

* * *

For the next few days the stargate on the cargo hold of the _Weir_ was in near constant use as the materials necessary to defend Calium were shipped through the stargate. By agreement with the Calium government a small military base was turned over for use by the Liberum. The cover story used by the Liberum would be that they had taken over this base for use as an outpost on the planet. To defend it against from the primitive forces possessed by the local populace a powerful barrier shield had been installed to be supported by a large neutrino ion generator. This shield, while no where near capable of matching a city ships shield, was a significant step up those formerly used by the Liberum warships and was even capable of resisting a regular plasma beam. A web of power conduits now ran through the corridors of the base, leading to the dozens of shield emitters mounted on the exterior, and in the centre, at the heart of the base, sat the generator.

For the Liberum the on world base was the most valuable asset they possessed in this upcoming conflict. They only had a few thousand soldiers and while priors had been effective one man armies during the crusade they were severely outmatched against the overwhelming forces the Zarasians could potentially field. For that reason they were trying to get the Zarasians to focus their attention on the military base before turning their attention to the rest of the planet and by extension the local populace. A single Liberum warship was stationed over the military base, inside the confines of the shield, to provide some defensive weaponry should be base come under attack.

Meanwhile the other allies, minus the Jaffa of course, were preparing their own forces for the job that was expected of them. Soon they would have their first taste of ground combat.

* * *

Five days had passed and the Zarasian reinforcements arrived. Joining the five strike craft from the scout fleet were several ships, some of which were a type that had never been seen before. One of them was the same basic hull shape as the flagship Zarin had commanded when he launched his attack on the Wraith world, except that the power readings given off were much higher on this one. Joining it were another fifteen strike craft, bringing the count up to twenty, ten four hundred metre long vessels and five eight hundred metre long vessels that looked like supersized versions of the strike craft.

"Etere Zarin," Tomin said. "Welcome to the world of Calium, although I wish you were here in person."

"My apologies Commander Tomin but I am required to be elsewhere," Zarin replied. "However the fleet I have sent should be more than capable of defending the world against an invasion fleet. If necessary I can provide you with ground forces to solidify your claim and help with the locals."

"I appreciate the offer," Tomin said. "However that won't be necessary. The locals possess primitive technology not capable of posing much of a threat to us. I have already been able to secure a foothold on the planet that is impregnable to assault and if necessary I can just destroy their vital infrastructure from orbit. The facility I am in also contains the planets stargate."

"Clever, do you have a specific target in mind?"

"Yes, they have a large hydrogen production facility that supplies their entire civilisation. Hydrogen is the primary fuel for their steam technology."

"Such a loss would cripple them. I can see that such you are a sound tactician."

"Thank you. I…" Tomin trailed off as his attention was distracted. "Damn."

"What is it?"

"My Homeworld is under attack by the Tau'ri," Tomin said gravely. "I need to redeploy ships to defend it."

"All of your ships?"

Tomin shook his head. "No, just the ones in orbit should be sufficient. I will remain behind and facilitate taking complete control of this planet."

"I will request additional ships to be sent here to cover their absence," Zarin said.

"I appreciate that," Tomin said. "My ships could be absent for some time."

"I have some ships nearby that I can pull away from their duties," Zarin said. "They can be here in about an hour."

* * *

An hour later and a hyperspace window opened, depositing the additional ships Zarin had sent for. In reality these ships had actually been in a nearby system waiting for the right moment to appear. These five ships were of the same type as those encountered by the SPECTRE's, in other words they were designed to transport troops rather than filling a combat role.

From the belly of each of these large ships four drop pods deployed from hatches and headed straight down to the surface at high speed. Or more specifically they were heading straight for the Liberum base. Unprepared for the sudden appearance of the craft the base tried to power shields in time to block what they assumed were missiles of some kind. It was however futile as the pods were travelling fast enough to punch through the weakened shield before it could be fully powered and like spears they embedded themselves in the surface of the outpost. They were travelling at such speed that they were able to punch through the rocky surface and into the network of carved passages below, preventing the Liberum from simply destroying them with their ships.

Sixteen of these drop pods made it through the shield and the hasty Liberum defensive fire intact. In corridors across the base ring platforms activated and began deploying troops, using the directed matter stream of the rings to bypass the shields of the base.

"Zarin!" Tomin roared. "You will pay for this betrayal."

Zarin chuckled. "I think not Commander. However I will look forward to finally meeting you in person. That is if you are taken alive by more reapers."

Tomin visibly seethed in anger at this betrayal of trust.

"My forces will not be tied up forever Zarin and in case you have forgotten I have a ship here still."

"Weak and outmatched," Zarin retorted. "If it attempts to flee it will be destroyed and I rather think your forces have enough to deal with if the Tau'ri have come for your heads. Oh and do not think about trying to use the stargate to escape, I have already dialled in. Now why don't we see how much punishment that shield of yours can take?"

The Zarasian ships immediately opened fire on the military base with the plasma cannons mounted on their underbellies. The now fully powered barrier shield held off the assault but with the amount of firepower being received it was only a matter of time before the shield emitters were burned out from continuous use.

The battle between the Liberum and the Zarasians for the world of Calium was on.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	63. Let Battle Commence

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: Sensor scans are patchy at best thanks to the overpowered magnetic field, plus a large amount of rock in the way helps too. They'll certainly be able to register the power readings but an analysis isn't possible in the short term. I assure you Zarin never will change...well not more than he has already.**

**Oddliver: Oh it's going to be tough alright.**

**stormwolf3710: Sometimes people need to know what they are in for if they sit around and do nothing. It encourages them to get up and do something, or in this case accept help. Without help the locals would be demolished.**

**romanhellhound: Well it is Zarin after all.**

**EPetrelli: They are still a long way from being a major galactic power i'm afraid, although they do have the edge on a lot of the Pegasus natives.**

**Guest: Wait no more.**

**Cdoctor: Thank you.**

**Monsterjeffbuk: Enjoy.**

**Ruby Pena: Wait no more.**

* * *

**Milky Way – ****_Enterprise_**

The Milky Way fleet flagship sat in deep space, far from any habited system. Her reason for being out here was to conduct a weapons test, and as such it was safer to be far from prying eyes. For the purpose of the test a massive asteroid had been towed along with her and was currently sitting several hundred thousand kilometres away. The aim was to destroy the asteroid, which had been fitted with a shield to allow them to fully test the prototypes capabilities.

"We ready yet Carter?" O'Neill asked from his command chair.

"Shield emitters are online. Power feed is in the green. Weapon is armed. We are ready."

"Remind me again why I am being denied seeing this with my own eyes?"

For the test the asteroid was directly behind the _Enterprise_, meaning the bridge was facing away from it. As a result the only way to watch the test from the bridge was using a holographic screen.

"Because the weapon is so large that the only place we could fit it was in the construction hanger," Carter explained.

"Ah. Okay then, lock on to target."

"Target locked."

"Power and arm Hellstorm."

"Powering. Weapon ready."

"Fire."

"Firing now."

From the main hanger a glowing white object surged at high speeds towards the asteroid, so fast it was barely traceable with the eye alone. As it hit the shield the object seemingly ignored them and continued onwards until a black hole appeared on the surface of the asteroid.

For a moment nothing seemed to happen.

"Sam?" Jack asked expectantly.

"Give it a moment," Sam suggested.

"Are you sure it was arm…oh."

The question died in his throat as the asteroid exploded sending chunks of debris in every direction. The _Enterprise_ shuddered slightly as the small chunks of rock hit her shields, they had to be small since the explosion that had consumed the asteroid hadn't left much but dust and a few chunks that had been hurtled away as the rock broke up.

"Damn," Jack said softly.

"The detonation was perfect," Sam noted. "All readings are in the green, the prototype in ready for field deployment."

"Tell Argus they have a go ahead for installation on the Hellstorm Cannons," Jack ordered. "Begin mass production of the warheads."

* * *

**Higher Plain**

"Vejovis, long time no see," Janus said. "So what brings you here?"

"I'm here to tell you that you won't be allowed to send the Liberum back into the fight when they die," Vejovis said, his face a mask of stone.

* * *

**Calium – Liberum Base**

Tomin ran through the base corridors, heading right into the heart of the fray against the Zarasian forces. This was certainly not going according to plan. While they had fully expected Zarin to eventually betray them they hadn't expected him to do so straight from the off and certainly not in this fashion. They had detected the presence of the six transports but they had been in another system, admittedly a short jump away, but they hadn't been expecting them to come here. Apparently Zarin had never been planning to work with the Liberum at all. Instead he had been setting them up for stabbing them in the back from the beginning. Not only was it very problematic for them since they were now looking at a full blown planetary invasion, but it meant Zarin believed he could take on all comers. If that was the case then the allies were in trouble.

Reapers were pouring into the base from sixteen different incursion points. The ring platforms in the drop pods were allowing them to send in more and more soldiers with every passing moment. They needed to push them back and physically disable or destroy the rings if they were to have any hope of winning against them.

He had four thousand soldiers, the entire contingent that he had brought from their home galaxy, a single warship, along with its four hundred fighters, within the confines of the shield. The problem was though that the warship was ill equipped to deal with the enemy right now. The best weapon it had was a beam weapon capable of taking down the shields of a Zarasian strike craft in a single blow. Unfortunately the Zarasians seemed to have realised this and kept pulling back their forces to recharge their shields.

The Zarasians were continuing to fire shot after shot at the barrier shield in the hope of pushing it to its limit. That strategy would eventually bear fruit when the shield emitters finally overheated and burned out from constant use. If he was going to prevent that, and reduce the number of ships attacking them then he would need to act quickly.

Moving to one of the ring platforms the Liberum had installed throughout the base he activated another one on his flagship using his telepathy.

"Brothers," he said telepathically. "I need you to hold off their advance while I cut off their reinforcements. Organise the ground forces as you need them, I am leaving you in charge for now. Make sure they do not deactivate the main shield or the one around the stargate."

For this battle they had eight priors, not including him, participating in this battle. Without the support of others to share their power however their combat effectiveness would be limited. Even a prior could eventually be overwhelmed and killed if the enemy were willing to simply toss soldiers at them until they died. Hopefully though his gambit would pay off and the flow of soldiers would be stopped.

"What are you going to do?" Andose asked.

"I'm taking the warship into battle," Tomin replied. "It won't operate effectively without telepathic control so I have to be the one to do it."

"Why you specifically?" Caius asked.

"Because it will be risky and the ship is already operating on a skeleton crew," Tomin replied. "Besides I have the best control thanks to my advanced evolution."

"Just be careful," Andose said.

"I will," Tomin assured him.

Stabilizing his connection to the ships neural interface he powered the weapons on the _Liberatus_ and raised the shields. Settling into the command chair on the bridge he focused his mind and directed power to the sublight engines, taking the ship forwards, out from under the protection of the bases shield, and into the upper atmosphere. Meanwhile, by his order, the ships crew ringed down to the base. He would only risk his life in this endeavour, besides they wouldn't be of much use anyway.

Concentrating his will, the ship surged forwards and upwards, ready to engage the enemy vessels. He was outnumbered, that was certain, and potentially even outclassed since he had no idea what the abilities of those unknown types were. His best choice at the moment was to engage the transports and hopefully destroy them before the others could intercede. At the very least that would stall their reinforcements.

It seemed that the Zarasians were fully aware of his attentions though and moved the transports back behind a wall of their smaller craft. The strike craft were being used as cannon fodder to protect the transports, which was fine by him since it meant they weren't bombarding the base anymore and the shield emitters would have a chance to cool down.

That was the one danger with barrier shields, when they were being pushed to their limit they were more likely to fail due to equipment failure than actually being overcome.

Moving quickly the _Liberatus_ charged forwards towards the wall of strike craft intending to punch through as quickly as possible before the larger craft joined the fray. As the _Liberatus_ swerved around trying to flank the enemy formation Tomin fired a volley from the ships secondary weapons. While the pulse cannons were less powerful than the main beam weapon they were still a formidable weapon. His targets of choice were the four strike craft that had lost their shields from the defensive fire of the _Liberatus_ while she was still confined to within the bases shield. When the ocean blue pulses connected with them their hull armour offered little resistance and the ships shattered as they were struck. One hit on each was all it had taken to render the ships lifeless wrecks. On the one hand the Zarasians had only lost four of their weakest ships to the _Liberatus_' guns, but on the other there was now a hole in their lines.

Seeing the opportunity he had created with his opening strike Tomin urged the ship towards the gap at full speed. Evasive manoeuvring had been thrown out the airlock as far as he was concerned, now all that mattered was pushing through the gap before the Zarasians could close it. With a set course though the ship was an easy target for the Zarasian strike craft and their return fire saw a storm of plasma bolts pounding into the shields of the Liberatus. Tomin winced as the ship was struck, during the crusade a volley like that wouldn't have affected the shields in the slightest. But now, in the days of the Liberum, his ships shields had been reduced by almost 40%. It would have been much worse though he knew if he hadn't drawn blood first. Speaking of drawing blood he had a job to do, good men were fighting for their lives on the surface and he needed to ease their task however much he could.

Channelling as much power into the engines as he dared he forced the ship through the gap. As he closed the distance and eventually passed through he once again let loose his side pulse cannons. Two strike craft were shattered as he passed into the gap and another two were crippled as he cleared the mass of ships. Suddenly there was nothing between him and the transports. At last his prey was in sight and within his grasp, it was time to strike. The main beam weapon on the ship, which he had been neglecting to use so that it would be fully powered for just this moment, finally unleashed its fury on the transports. In quick succession two bursts of raw destructive energy tore into the shields on one of the transports. The shields of the transport however held against the raw destructive energy but were severely depleted. The pulse cannons meanwhile added their own destructive bite to the battle and ravaged the other transports as the _Liberatus_ flew past the group.

Tomin quickly brought the _Liberatus_ around for another pass hoping to claim a kill but it was then that the other Zarasian ships joined the fray. The three classes of ships had left the base alone entirely, choosing instead to target the one ship that was actually causing them harm. They quickly moved to cover the transports, forcing Tomin to rapidly adjust his heading to avoid a collision. He had expected such tactics from the Zarasians, a collision was something they could afford but he couldn't. It was the reason they had set up a wall in the first place. Tomin immediately went evasive as the light and heavy cruisers opened up with eight and sixteen plasma cannons respectively while the flagship added its own thirty. The hastily fired shots were easy enough to evade despite the size of the _Liberatus_ since they hadn't really been aimed at his ship but meant to make him turn away from the transports.

He knew that his shields were not going to last long against the firepower those sixteen ships were capable of unleashing in a single volley. The Zarasians seemed to like to saturate their opponents with a sheer mass of firepower, much like their Averian cousins and the Jaffa. He supposed he was lucky they hadn't developed a beam weapon of their own to use against him or he would really be in trouble. It's thoughts like those that come back to bite you in the ass, as the Zarasians were about to prove. Before he even had time to register that they were firing at him a beam of raw destructive energy was tearing towards him from the prow of the flagship. The _Liberatus_ shook as it was struck by the savage weapon.

Tomin's eyes widened in shock as realisation hit home. That blast had been as powerful as the main weapon on his ship. Worse still it was followed up by another two shots from the wings of the ship. This was definitely no ordinary flagship like the one the allies had previously encountered, this was a battleship!

Tomin grimaced as he realised his shields were down to less than 44%. This battle was not going the way he had intended and he knew he had to get back under cover soon. It was about to get worse very quickly though as the light and heavy cruisers neared and surprised him further by opening fire with their plasma beam weapons. They were only half the strength of the three fired by the battleship, or an APB equivalent, but sixty of them coming at you is not something you can simply ignore. To make matters even worse the battleship fired six of the same from its lighter guns, bringing the total up to sixty six. Tomin had already been on his guard though and that, combined with the long range they were firing at, allowed him to avoid every one in six. Unfortunately that meant eleven hit and his shields dropped to a mere 10%. It was definitely time to get out of here but he couldn't let his mission fail like this. If he could just kill one of those transports, even the already damaged one, then he would have achieved something here.

The Zarasians seemed to have other ideas however and had brought the strike craft in closer to form a screen between him and the planet. It was time for a risky manoeuvre that could possibly get him killed, assuming that the Zarasians didn't of course which wasn't very likely at this point. Frankly he was lucky to have survived this long.

Directing as much power into the sublight engines as he could without taking anything away from the shields he took the _Liberatus_ further away from the planet. The Zarasians had a mission though and were reluctant to pursue him. That was fine by him since it gave him the opportunity he needed.

The _Liberatus_ suddenly swerved round, once again facing the planet. A hyperspace window opened as Tomin executed one of the riskiest manoeuvres there is during a pitched battle, a micro hyperspace jump. The _Liberatus_ dived into the window and without warning a second window opened amongst the cruiser formation. Tomin gripped his chair as he concentrated on turning the ship, barely avoiding scraping the shields of a heavy cruiser. The Zarasians didn't even have time to fire a shot before the _Liberatus _had escaped and was on the transports. Travelling at high speeds the Liberum flagship shot past the formation of ships, firing a hastily aimed beam and a volley of pulse blasts the damaged transport succumbed and exploded.

Without a moments hesitation Tomin took the ship into the atmosphere at full speed seeking the safety of the bases shield. The time the Zarasians took to figure out what had happened was all that needed for the shield to drop, the Liberatus to slip under its protective umbrella and to be raised again.

Tomin knew that the Liberatus would not be able to attempt another space battle until the shields were recharged and that would take time. It was better for him to help with the ground battle and leave controlling the ship to the crew for now. He ringed down to the surface as the Zarasians resumed their bombardment. He had achieved a significant victory here. Not only had he destroyed on of the transport craft but he had also temporarily halted the tide of enemy soldiers flowing into the base and allowed his own soldiers to make some headway. That would make all the difference for the moment.

After he ringed down he ordered the crew to re-board the ship and continue what they had been doing before.

"Brothers," he said. "I have destroyed on of the troop transports and several strike craft. They will be resuming sending down troops soon. The real fight begins now."

* * *

"Brothers," he said telepathically. "I need you to hold off their advance while I cut off their reinforcements. Organise the ground forces as you need them, I am leaving you in charge for now. Make sure they do not deactivate the main shield or the one around the stargate."

"What are you going to do?" Andose asked.

"I'm taking the warship into battle," Tomin replied. "It won't operate effectively without telepathic control so I have to be the one to do it."

"Why you specifically?" Caius asked.

"Because it will be risky and the ship is already operating on a skeleton crew," Tomin replied. "Besides I have the best control thanks to my advanced evolution."

"Just be careful," Andose said.

"I will," Tomin assured him.

"You heard him boys," Caius said. "Let's make them regret ever setting foot on this rock."

The message was spread to the Liberum soldiers by the Priors. It was eight priors and four thousand soldiers versus however many reapers were already pouring into the base.

"They have sixteen entry points into the base," Andose said. "We'll each take five hundred men and cover two entry points."

"Agreed."

"Follow me men," Caius said. "We have reapers to kill."

The Liberum soldiers cheered in response, they're heavy boots beating a steady room as they charged through the passageways towards the enemy. The inner corridors were dimly lit by hydrogen fuelled gas lamps. For some reason Caius took comfort from their presence. Maybe it was because of the part of him that had worshipped the Ori or maybe it was the symbolism that fire represented, lighting the dark and banishing away the cold, but for some reason he always felt comfortable around fire. At the occasional corner they came across an armoured power conduit snaking its way from the floor to the ceiling and along the occasional corridor. If one listened closely you could actually here the gentle hum from the large power generator in the main hanger below and the crackle of energy as it flowed through the conduits to the shield generators. The conduits worried Caius as, even though they were out the way and had been reinforced to protect them against plasma blasts from small arms they were still vulnerable if something heavy hit them.

Caius, like the rest of the priors, was not wearing his stereotypical prior robes or even carrying a staff anymore. Instead, like Tomin, he was now wearing a version of the foot soldiers armour composed of overlapping plates with a single solid piece for the breast plate. Adorning that breast plate was a large, but thin, blue crystal similar to the one that was present in the prior's staffs. Tomin and the others had come to realise that carrying a staff around in a combat situation was a bad idea. It had taken a long time for the crystals to grow large enough for them to be shaped so that they had the same volume as the staff crystals but it had been worth it.

The sound of the enemy approaching echoed ominously through the passageways. Just as they were getting closer to the enemy the enemy were also getting closer to them. That wasn't good. They needed to push them back in order to get at the drop pods if they were ever to destroy them, and with every moment that passed the amount of ground they needed to retake increased. Worse still the more ground they were able to take meant that the reaper incursion groups would be able to link up and support one another. The advantage the Liberum had over the reapers was being able to co-ordinate and support one another thanks to the priors and the large amount of adjoining passageways they controlled. If they lost that advantage then the reapers would be able to establish a foothold, deploy more forces and eventually press outwards and take control of the entire base. Losing control of this base was not going to happen. Well admittedly yes it was eventually going to happen. They had planned on it happening. But it wasn't going to happen without the reapers paying in blood for every square foot of ground they took.

It wasn't long before they rounded a corner and came face to face with the enemy. Caius quickly created a shield to block the plasma blasts being fired at him.

"Fire at will," he ordered, and his soldiers let loose a volley of staff blasts in return.

Both sides exchanged fired as they found their mutual advances halted by contact with the other side. They were unable to advance further because of the wall of opponents in front of them. Plasma blasts struck the walls of the corridors as both reapers and Liberum alike tried to score a hit.

In one section of the base an old prior named Darius was desperately marshalling his soldiers against the enemy.

"Keep firing," Darius yelled as he dodged yet another plasma bolt aimed at his head.

He punched forwards and sent out a telekinetic punch that sent one of the reapers flying backwards into the wall behind with a bone breaking crunch. That was another one down. A scream beside him grabbed his attention and he turned and saw a young man, no more than boy really, rolling on the ground in agony, a plasma blast having caught him in the face and melted his exposed skin.

One of his fellow soldiers dragged him round the corner and into cover before Darius knelt down beside him and placed his hand on the mutilated flesh. Concentrating, the boys face was enveloped in a soft glow as Darius healed his wounds. When the work was done the boy was healed and Darius moved back into the fray. He knew that that would not be last time he had to used his abilities to heal the injured to day, but he hoped reverently that it would not be the last he could save.

In the distance he could hear the thud of footsteps and he knew that meant more reapers were approaching. His guess turned out to be correct as further down the corridor another pack of the abominable creatures emerged, ready to rain hell down on the defenders of this base. Looking out with his minds eye however he could something entirely different approaching.

"Fall back," he ordered, gathering his powers and creating a barrier to block the volleys of plasma bolts.

Under the cover provided by their prior the mass of Liberum soldiers began to slowly retreat down the corridor. Occasionally they would stall and fire back down the corridor towards the reapers, providing cover for their brothers and lessening their priors load as the reapers stopped firing and took cover.

The reapers however believed that their opponents were weakening and sensing an opportunity for victory in this skirmish decided to press forwards. Emboldened by the swell in their numbers, courtesy of the swift arrival of reinforcements the host pressed onwards. Several staggered and fell as they were struck by staff blasts, some of whom did not rise again, but they continued onwards all the same.

Sweat started to form on his brow as Darius struggled to maintain the barrier while it was being subjected to constant bombardment. In an effort not to overtax himself he compressed it so that it no longer filled the width of the corridor. This had the downside though of leaving the soldiers pressed against the wall exposed. Nevertheless Darius continued to maintain the barrier, though his minds eye was focusing on something else. Distraction can get you killed on the battlefield but in this case it proved to save him.

"Attack," he roared suddenly, much to the surprise of the reapers.

As one the Liberum soldiers halted their retreat and fired volley after volley at the reaper host in front of them. The space between the two forces was filled with plasma blasts as both sides fought relentlessly to bring the other down. The reapers had thought that victory was assured but the enemy had shown that they still had some fight left in them. They still had numbers on their side and Darius was weakening by the second. It was only a matter of time before they slaughtered the humans, or so they thought.

From the two side corridors emerged a force of Liberum soldiers, who had been waiting round the corner of the intersection for the signal to attack and had been the focus of the Darius' minds eye. That signal had been given when Darius had called to attack and the soldiers had answered that call. The small detachment of reapers guarding the intersection was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer mass brought down on them. Emerging round the corners they caught the reaper host pressing down on their brothers unprepared and unawares, and more importantly with their backs turned to them. The reapers which had, until a moment ago, had the taste of victory on their lips suddenly found themselves in the middle of a withering crossfire that saw them decimated in short order. There were so many reapers in that corridor that it was a simple matter of just firing at will since you were guaranteed to hit something so long as your staff weapon was pointed forwards.

As their numbers began to dwindle and they turned to face the more pressing threat Darius and his vanguard once again moved forwards. Charging forwards the Liberum soldiers drew their swords and proceeded to hack their way through the enemy, so as not to run the risk of friendly fire. As the reapers turned once again to face the more immediate threat the soldiers from the other direction charged forwards and added their blades to the fray. Reaper blood ran thick along the stone floor.

Using their weight of numbers the Liberum pushed the reapers back at several points. Co-ordination and knowledge of the tunnel systems throughout the facility allowed them to push the reaper advance back while in the space above Calium Tomin harassed the Zarasian fleet and stalled reinforcements. This gave the soldiers the time they needed to counterattack and prevent the reaper incursion groups from forming into cohesive forces.

Pushing their way through the base corridors, with the priors spearheading the assault, the Liberum started to push the reapers back until they were close enough to actually here the sound of ring platforms activating. The strange was that they didn't hear the sound of rings activating which puzzled them for a little while until they realised that Tomin's attack on the fleet must be stemming the tide of reinforcements.

Realizing they wouldn't have this opportunity again the Liberum pushed forwards with everything they had until they had wiped the reapers out. The soldiers cheered when the priors reported the last of them killed but most remained sombre, knowing the battle had really only just began.

With the entry points surrounded the priors fell back from the front lines to heal the wounded, sadly though there were some that were beyond help. Death is something that even a prior cannot simply heal.

"Brothers," Tomin said. "I have destroyed on of the troop transports and several strike craft. They will be resuming sending down troops soon. The real fight begins now."

The priors barked out orders for the soldiers to prepare themselves. The next wave of reapers was due any moment now.

In the distance Caius could hear the sound of the rings activating and shouted out for the soldiers under his command to fire at will.

Suddenly he felt the ground shake and a bloom of heat radiating from the corridor where the ring platform was located. As he watched a wall of flame out of the corridor and right in front, the shockwave left him sprawling on the ground. His eyes widened in shock as he saw soldiers diving for cover, some barely making it while others weren't so lucky.

"Bomb," someone murmured, and Caius knew that could only have been it.

Then he heard the ring platform activating again and the gentle thud of footsteps. From around the corner came a reaper carrying a large metal cylinder on his back with tubing feeding into a rifle looking object in his hands that spat blue flame. The reaper was pointed it right at him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Caius saw the weapon for what it was. A plasma flamethrower and it was being fired at him!

* * *

**Please Review.**


	64. Into the Fire

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: One thing to remember about the Zarasians is that being a little known about race they can unleash plenty of surprises on their oponents. Believe me the weapons are just the start.**

**Oddliver: We'll see.**

**Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**stormwolf3710: Thank you.**

**BIG Z1776: I'll probably just end up calling it a flamethrower from now on. Priors make things a lot more fun. So many possibilities.**

**EPetrelli: The Zarasians capabilties were expected to be higher than seen, but that doesn't mean surprises aren't in store.**

**Cdoctor: If you mean the Hellstorm, well that would be telling wouldn't it.**

**Monsterjeffbuk: Reinforcements would be problamatic since that would just mean extra ships and not troops. The Weir would also mean the ruse would be discovered. But i won't spoil it for you.**

**StargateFFWriter: Yes they are.**

**abhinavatlantis: We have our ideas for it and there seems to be some interest, so we'll see.**

* * *

**Calium – Liberum Base**

The reaper casually stepped over the charred remains of a Liberum soldier that had been burnt to a crisp by the plasma flamethrower he held in his hands. It was hard to tell because of the helmet but he seemed indifferent to the horrific smell of scorched flesh and the cries of the wounded and the dying.

Dazed and bewildered Caius looked up from the floor at the reaper before him. When the reaper pointed the flamethrower at him and squeezed the trigger, sending a torrent of bright blue flame at him. Caius reacted instinctively, raising his hands and stopping the wall of flames in its tracks, creating a barrier that directed the flames into the ceiling. In the back of his mind he found himself thanking the Ori for imbuing all priors with complete mastery over fire. Slowly he leaned his body forwards so that he was now crouched down on his knees, then he gently rose onto to his feet while keeping his hands raised outwards so as to keep control of the flames. The reaper was still squeezing the trigger intent on burning Caius to a crisp but it was a futile gesture. Fire was his element and he would not allow himself or others to be harmed by it while he still drew breath, not if he could strike the enemy down with it.

He could feel the sweat on his brow and not from the effort of redirecting the plasma flames. The ceiling of the tunnel hissed as the rocks melted from the sheer heat of the flames before solidifying again. If this kept up the entire tunnel would soon be liquefied. Now standing firmly on his feet he saw half a dozen other reapers come marching around the corner to join the one with the flamethrower. His temper flared as he saw them casually fire into the surviving soldiers, ending any chance of him getting to them and healing them. Let his rage consume him he focused his will and forced the flames backwards even further until they were licking at the patch of ceiling above the reapers. The rocks began to melt from the instance heat and poured down on top of the reapers, who hesitantly moved back. Drawing on more of his strength he forced the flame back even further. He moved his hands further apart and pulled them back as he redirected the flame to curve around the lone reaper, then pushed his hands forward, urging the flame forwards to engulf the half dozen others. When the lone reaper realised what was happening he hastily stopped firing but it was already too late, the others were writhing around on the ground, attempting to put the flames out but eventually they stilled as the spark of their life was extinguished, although the flames continued to burn on.

The remaining lone reaper charged at Caius, raising the flamethrower like a club but Caius was ready for him. He moved his hands together and pulled the flames from the burning corpses lining the corridors, gathering them together into two flaming balls he sent them flying into the reapers legs. The reaper stumbled as his legs were consumed by the flames, reduced to useless, burnt stumps that couldn't support him, and he landed face down on the ground. Concentrating Caius gathered his power for a telekinetic strike. Balling up his hand into a fist he punched downwards, coming just short of connecting, but the telekinetic punch did. There was a sickening crunch as the reapers skull was caved in by the blow.

Caius tiredly rose to his feet, his anger having died along with his energy.

"Be careful they have flamethrowers," he warned the others.

"We know," they all replied.

"All priors onto the front lines now," Tomin ordered, having just arrived back on the base from the _Liberatus_. "Let's show them that fire can be used against them too."

"Yes sir."

"Commander," a voice behind him yelled.

Caius turned and saw a group of soldiers pounding their way down the corridor towards him.

"I'm fine," he said. "Get back on the line and stop these bastards."

"Yes sir."

Breathing a deep sigh of exhaustion as the soldiers pounded past him to the sound of the drop pods rings activating Caius turned and grabbed the flame thrower. He figured he would have use for it later.

* * *

Tomin marched through the corridors of the base.

"Give me a status report," he ordered.

"I have the situation under control with minimal losses," Caius reported. "I've found their flamethrowers compliment our pyrokinesis well. I recommend everyone grab one for use until we get our own equivalent."

"I also have the situation under control," Andose reported. "Minimal casualties."

"I can handle them for now," Darrius said. "Minimal casualties."

"Markus, Garen, Jacob and I have them on the run," Korvin reported. He had been able to link up with three other priors and their task forces since their targets were close to each other. "We're going to attempt to destroy some of the ring platforms."

"How?" Tomin asked.

"Caius was right, those flamethrowers are very handy," Korvin reported, and Tomin could almost imagine him grinning.

"We're holding them back for now but I may have to pull back soon," Corwin reported. "Minimal losses so far."

"I need help over here," Coeven reported. "My targets are spread too far apart for me to cover both by myself. I'm taking heavy casualties."

"I'm on my way," Tomin replied, breaking into a run.

"Please hurry!"

"We'll have this lot dealt with soon enough," Korvin added. "We'll join you when we're finished."

* * *

In another part of the base Korvin and his brothers were slaughtering their way through the reapers. Working as a team they had forced their way through the initial incursion forces until they reached the tightly grouped together drop pods. By this point the initial incursion forces had been wiped out, having been unable to stand up against an attack consisting of two thousand very determined soldiers and spearheaded by four priors.

Now whenever the rings activated the reapers that landed were met by a torrent of staff blasts. Most of them never made it outside of the confines of the ring platforms before being brought down.

"How's it coming?" Korvin asked.

"I'm nearly there but the constant appearance of reapers isn't speeding things up," Markus replied.

"Same here," Garen added.

"And here," Jacob added.

"Good work," Korvin replied.

"Keep the stream constant," he told the soldier beside him.

Under the advice of Caius four Liberum soldiers had taken flamethrowers from the reapers second incursion attempt, an attempt which had failed spectacularly after the priors blocked the blasts and turned them back on the reapers that followed. Korvin and the others had realised they could use them to attempt to neutralise the ring platforms and halt the assault.

Kovin was using his pyrokinesis to focus the stream of plasma fire into the outer hull of the drop pod and the surrounding rocks. His aim was to melt the superstructure of the drop pod to prevent the rings from being able to deploy. So far he had yet to heat the hull enough to warp the trinium armour plating but he was getting there.

The ring platform activated and deposited another half dozen reapers. In response Kovin casually redirected a burst of plasma flame at them. He may not have the innate control that Caius possessed but he was still capable of flash frying the six of them with a flick of his wrist and within seconds the reapers were burnt to a crisp. When the rings activated again the corpses would be whisked to where they had come from, and would certainly give the Zarasians quite a shock. Redirecting the plasma stream he focused on the ring deployment area, hoping to liquefy and eventually fuse the hull.

In the back of the mind he was worrying about how long this was taking, since he knew Coeven needed help. Tomin was on his way and the raw power that he would bring to the battle would allow them to hold out for a little while longer. Having two priors would at least solve the issue of having only one prior to deal with any flamethrower wielding reapers. He just hoped they could survive long enough for him to reinforce them. Just as soon as these first four ring platforms were neutralised he could redirect his soldiers to support them.

* * *

Tomin ran through the tunnels as fast as his legs could carry him. Along the way he passed a column of wounded soldiers fleeing from the battle before the reapers could finish them. Each of them possessed injuries to a varying degree, from plasma burns to scorched stumps in place of limbs.

What really worried him though was the number of bodies he passed lying unmoving on the ground as he got closer and closer to the drop pods.

"Coeven," Tomin said. "I'm at one of the drop pods, focus on the other and let them have it."

"On it," Coeven replied.

Tomin skidded to a halt as he rounded a corner, meeting a hail of plasma bolts that pounded into his hastily erected barrier. Lining the edges of the corridor, tucked into any nook and cranny that they could use for cover, were a number of Liberum soldiers. Some of them were badly wounded but were unable to move back from the engagement area. There were over a dozen reapers firing on them, just firing on them and not advancing, while in the distance he could hear the ring platform activating almost continuously. He suddenly realised the reapers were simply planning on holding the Liberum soldiers down while even more were pouring into the base. They didn't want the Liberum soldiers to get lucky and change the status quo, while the Liberum were present it would appear that they were holding the reapers back. When they were ready the reapers would advance in force and slaughter them. He had to admit they were sneaky buggers. Any time a Liberum soldier stuck his head round the corner to take a shot they would be forced to take cover again or be flash fried by a stream of plasma fire from a pair of reapers with flamethrowers.

Tomin sent a return volley of his own consisting of telekinetic strikes that gave the reapers pause. Taking a moment to gather his power he sent a large strike that would cover the entire width of the corridor.

"Down," Tomin yelled.

The Liberum soldiers stopped attempting to get a bead on the reapers and pressed themselves flat against the wall of their personal hiding places moments before Tomin unleashed his strike. The reapers were sent flying backwards at least ten feet like they had been hit by a high speed truck. The soldiers looked at him in awe at the raw power he had just displayed and even Tomin was slightly surprised at how much his strength had increased. It was amazing what he could if he didn't focus on fine control and instead switched to wide area effect attacks. But he didn't have time to think about that now as the reapers were already getting back on to their feet, although the two with flamethrowers were having some difficulty.

"Single volley," he ordered.

The soldier's movements stammered as they attempted to hastily comply with the order and fired off a single volley that brought down several reapers that had made it onto their feet.

In the distance Tomin could hear the gentle pounding of footsteps of people moving on mass and he knew it was reinforcements coming. Since they were coming from in front of him he knew they were not his forces but reapers come to aid their brethren. He was not disappointed as several dozen reapers poured into the long corridor from the many side passages. Clearly they had been waiting for the moment to strike and had decided to seize it with his arrival. No doubt they intended to overwhelm him while he lacked the necessary forces to support him.

He strode down the corridor unperturbed by their numbers or the blasts impacting the barrier he had created.

"Fall back and support the others," Tomin ordered. "I'll take care of these."

The soldiers stalled in their retreat and he couldn't blame them, they were after all very loyal. It seemed an impossible thing for him alone, even with his powers, to take on all these reapers and live. Nevertheless he continued to march forwards until the last of his men were behind him and he was only a few feet away from the front line of reapers.

The two reapers with flamethrowers were now back on their feet and let loose long streams of burning blue plasma flames at him, which was exactly what he was waiting for. With a flick of his wrists he redirected the flames so that they turned a full ninety degrees, striking the two reapers. The two of them were quickly enveloped in burning blue fire and they staggered backwards as their armour began to fuse into their flesh. Pushing his hands outwards he sent them hurtling down the corridor just before the inevitable happened and the gas cylinders on their backs detonated. The corridor was filled with blue plasma flames, stopped only by Tomin using pyrokinesis to divert them away from him and his soldiers. The reapers on the other hand were not as lucky as they were hit by the full power of the blast and killed in an instant.

The Liberum soldiers behind him were left with open mouths by the spectacle they had just witnessed.

"I said go," Tomin repeated, not turning round.

He smirked as he heard the soldiers slowly backed away before running down the corridor. At this rate he was going to get a reputation. He turned his attention back to the fight and strode deeper into the base, and as a result closer to the reaper menace. All he needed to do was hold them back until reinforcements could arrive, he just hoped that Coeven could do the same.

* * *

Young Coeven was, for a lack of a better phrase, a border line nervous wreck. Since the fight had begun he had been running back and forth between the two incursion points.

He was exhausted, both physically and mentally, from having to constantly use his powers against hordes of enemies. Then the death knell for his mental state had sounded when the reapers second incursion teams had arrived, headed by reapers with flamethrowers and air burst explosives. His forces had already been taking casualties, a result of him not being able to support them constantly and heal the wounded, and with him only being able to focus on one area at a time the group he hadn't been supporting had been all but annihilated. He didn't know how many people had died thus far, but the worst thing was that was because he had lost count and there were countless more who were wounded and out of the fight.

The timely reappearance of Tomin had greatly improved his mood however and he now felt much more like his old self. With the other area in the process of being secured he could now focus on pushing back the enemy around him. His previous sense of fear at his forces being overwhelmed was now replaced by anger at the casualties that had been inflicted. He fought like a mad dog that had been kicked once too often and began to carve his way through the enemy. His soldiers, those few that remained by his side, did the best they could and stayed the hell out of his way.

It wasn't long before he dismissed them to support the other elements of his task force, who were busy attempting to coral the reapers in order to prevent them from gaining a greater foothold. So unsurprisingly Coeven eventually found himself smack dab in the middle of several dozen reapers intent of riddling him with holes. By this point Coeven was running solely on adrenaline and the slightly maniacal urge to kill just one more reaper, which resulted in him sending anyone that attempted to get into close combat flying back several feet. The reapers, or whoever was in charge of them, had by now realised the pointlessness in this strategy. They had instead settled for firing at him from all sides, which was proving to be extremely effective at wearing him down in a hurry. Coeven didn't really seem to notice though at a conscious level and he just kept firing off telekinetic strikes indiscriminately at anything within range.

Eventually his fatigued state started to overcome his blind rage as his strikes got progressively weaker and weaker and his barrier started to deteriorate under the relentless bombardment of plasma bolts.

As fear started to regain a foothold in his mind he hastily forced his way past several reapers and started to run down the corridor. With the reapers on his tail he ran through the corridors, not paying attention to which way he went which was probably why he found himself cornered. With his back quite literally up against the wall all he could do was create a barrier to try and hold off the inevitable. As the reapers continued to pound his barrier he calmed his mind and accepted his fate. So he was really surprised when a wall of flame engulfed the reapers in front of him but left him unharmed. He could feel the heat from the blue flames but they didn't come close enough to burn him or even affect his barrier.

As the wall died his vision cleared and he saw two figures in the distance. One of them was prior Andose and the other, carrying a gas cylinder on his back and with the gun in his hand, was prior Caius.

"You should not be so eager for death young one," Andose chastised. "You still have much more of a life to live."

"Don't be too hard on him Andose," Caius said. "I think he did rather well considering the situation."

"Hmm, maybe. Get out of here for now and rest brother," Andose advised. "The others will be here soon. We will handle the rest."

"Thank you," Coeven managed as he placed his hands against the rocky wall and used it to support his tired body as he stood up.

Caius patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "A little rest and you'll be fine in no time. You just over did it."

"Why are you carrying one of those things?" Coeven asked, indicating the flamethrower.

"It's useful," Caius replied. "I'm hoping to get a smaller version made for the initial flame since we can't create flames with our powers but for now I'm just using this since it compliments my pyrokinesis quite nicely."

"Pyromaniac," Coeven muttered, causing Caius to laugh.

"I prefer Pryo Caius," Caius retorted.

"I would prefer if we get a move on," Andose said, already walking down the corridor in search of more reapers.

"What about the rest of my men?" Coeven asked, clearly concerned.

"They're being tended to or reinforced by the other priors and soldiers," Andose assured him. "They'll be fine."

"Your incursion points have been secured?" Coeven asked incredulously.

"The rings on the drop pods have been rendered inoperable," Andose explained. "But if you hadn't held the reapers back here as long as you did the casualty rate would have been much higher. You did well."

"Now what?" Coeven asked.

"We mop up here and then prepare for the next incursion attempt," Caius replied, turning and leaving Coeven behind.

* * *

A little while later and Caius and Andose were moping up the last of the reaper rabble. Even with Coeven taking a breather and on healing duty there were still eight prior level beings, not to mention several thousand Liberum soldiers, all focusing their attention on two reaper incursion groups. Needless to say it wasn't looking good for the reapers.

"How's it coming?" Andose asked, casually flinging back a reaper that had attempted to charge him with a mere flick of his wrist while maintaining a strong barrier.

"Nearly there," Caius replied, his attention focused on fusing the deployment panels on the drop pods ring platform. "Just hold them back a little longer."

"No need," Andose replied as the two dozen reapers were engulfed in a torrent of blue flame, marking the timely arrival of Korvin, Markus, Garen and Jacob.

"Have you finished yet?" Korvin asked casually.

"Yes," Caius replied, lowering his outstretched hand and the flamethrower gun.

"Good," Markus replied. "Because we finished ours ages ago."

"There are four of you though," Caius pointed out.

"Ah but you are supposed to be Pryo Caius master of the flame," Garen retorted.

"I see you've been speaking to Coeven," Andose noted.

"Of course," Markus said. "Speaking of Coeven Tomin wants you two to give him a hand on healing duty. We'll search for any strays."

"Very well," Andose said, turning to go.

"Is he always like that?" Jacob asked.

"Yes," Caius replied, turning to follow his friend.

"I should have known he wouldn't just sit down and rest," Caius said when he caught up.

"Of course not," Andose said. "He worries too much about the soldiers he leads. We were not trained as soldiers but that is the role we have taken upon ourselves when we chose to come to this galaxy."

"You know why he does that though right? It's because he knows now that if they are killed the Ori won't ascend them."

"Ah, but in this case we have the chance for ascension," Andose pointed out.

"You also know what the deal is," Caius retorted. "And you also know that given the choice everyone of us, you and me included would descend again to continue the fight."

"That just means we cannot toss away our lives carelessly because we may need the opportunity that this gives us later on."

"Exactly," Caius said. "And Coeven is worried that he has tossed away lives carelessly."

Andose shrugged. "He needs to learn that that is the risk of conflict, you win or you lose and losing means death."

"That lesson sucks," Caius replied.

"The most important ones usually do," Andose said sagely before frowning.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Andose said uncertainly. "Something is not…"

He was cut off as the entire base shook from the force of a tremendous explosion, leaving both men struggling to stay on their feet.

"What in the ancestors name was that?" Caius asked.

"I think it was…" Andose started to say before another explosion cut him off.

"What's happening?" Caius asked telepathically.

"The Zarasians are attacking!" Tomin replied.

"I thought their plasma cannons couldn't break through our shield," Caius replied.

"I didn't mention it earlier but they apparently have plasma beam weapons as well," Tomin replied. "I didn't think they would use them because they seemed more interested in capturing the base rather than destroying it but apparently they've changed strategies."

"It must be because we eliminated their incursion teams," Andose said. "They must be getting desperate."

"What are we going to do?" Coeven asked.

"Retreat," Darius said. "It's the only thing we can do."

"We can't use the stargate," Korvin pointed out.

"We don't need to the warship can hold us all," Tomin replied.

"The air will get pretty thin real fast though," Markus pointed out.

"It'll last long enough for us to meet up with the fleet though," Caius said.

"I'm giving the order," Tomin said. "Spread the word, we're retreating. All forces are to head to the warship or the nearest ring platform. Anyone who can't walk is to be carried."

"Yes sir!"

Without a word Caius shrugged off the gas cylinder. By the time it hit the ground with a clink he and Andose were already running.

"You keeping up okay old man," Caius said jokingly. Andose smirked but did not reply.

The two of them ran as fast as their legs could carry them, darting through the rocky corridors like rats running from a sinking ship. Later on they might actually appreciate the irony of just how appropriate that simile was but right now they were more concerned about getting out of dodge. If they had bothered to extend their senses outwards they would have sensed the equally scared minds of their fellow Liberum running for the warship.

The base trembled again as another strike pierced the shields.

"Incoming drop pods!" Someone yelled telepathically.

No less than a second after the warning went out they felt the base shudder as the drop pods impacted. The two priors momentarily hesitated, that last impact had felt very close.

Caius looked around searching for the something that his brain was telling him was out of place with the situation. The gleam of a power conduit caught his eye and suddenly it hit him, he couldn't hear anything. The sound of raw power crackling through the conduits that he had noted at the start of the battle, a time that seemed so long ago, had been diminished to the point that he couldn't hear it unless he concentrated. Power was barely flowing through that conduit to the shield emitter, which meant that area of the shield was weak. His gaze immediately shot up to the ceiling and he finally noticed the dust falling from above his friends head.

"Andose watch out!" he yelled diving forward to knock Andose out of the way just as the ceiling shattered and the rocks began to fall.

The shining metal of a drop pod spear point pierced through the rock like a hot knife through butter, bringing down a cascade of rubble along with it.

Andose let out a low groan as he got back to his feet. Caius had sent him sprawling to the ground with his full body impact and he had dropped like a sack of potatoes. His head hurt from where it had connected with the rocky floor. Turning his aching neck he took in the situation. There was rubble everywhere after a drop pod had come straight through the ceiling, severing a power conduit and…and…burying Caius in rock.

"Caius!"

Andose stumbled forwards towards his friend but he already knew that he was dead. He could not sense a single spark of life from his mind. He collapsed to the ground, his will to go on temporarily gone. He just lay there, seeing but unmoving

The spiked tip of the drop pod split apart, separating outwards until they formed a ring around the circumference. The rings immediately activated and deployed, disgorging group after group of reapers into the corridor. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a voice telling him to get up, move, fight or they will kill you!

Forcing his body to move, he shakily pushed himself up and created a barrier before sending out a telekinetic strike that knocked a single reaper down. The other reapers immediately opened fire and sent a hailstorm of plasma bolts at him. As they pounded his barrier it succumbed, shattered and he was sent flying backwards.

Dazed and bewildered, his head on fire, he tried to will his body into moving. His strength was leaving him with every passing second. He blindly reached out and grabbed the nearest thing to him, a sparking power conduit.

Raw power flowed through him and he used all his will power to manipulate the energy, like he had all those times before in training. Flowing through him like a conduit the energy entered through one hand and exited out through the other as lightning. His body cried out in pain but another part of him sensed what was happening and drained his last reserves of strength. The energy flowed and flowed, sending out lightning that reduced countless reapers to cinders and burned out the internal circuitry of the drop pod. His body twitching feverishly until the very last moment Andose breathed his last breath and closed his eyes, finally giving in to death.

* * *

**Please Review. And in case you haven't noticed i rewrote the first chapter to make it easier to digest without changing any plot points.**


	65. Into the Inferno

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: The Liberum and Zarasians have never properly fought an enemy. Oh sure they've planned everything, they've learned strategies and tactics but they've never had the experience of a we want to keep our boys alive attitude. Now both sides are having to rethink their positions. Unfortunately both are.**

**Oddliver: You've hit the nail on the head there. You're absolutely right and it is that kind of thinking that is going to influence the coming conflicts.**

**Just A Crazy-Man: Thank you.**

**BIG Z1776: It's not so much the lack of Ori support but the lack of others Priors to support them, although that does play a factor. Basically priors aren't invulnerable, like the kull if you hit them hard enough they will go down.**

**Cdoctor: If you like that then you'll love this.**

**romanhellhound: We'll see. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.**

* * *

:

**Higher Plain**

"Andose, what are you doing here?" a familiar voice coming from behind him asked.

Andose reopened his eyes and looked around. He was standing on the plains of Celestia surrounded by hundreds of his fellow Liberum. He spun around on the spot and found himself face to face with Caius, who wearing a cocky grin.

"I'm pretty sure I sacrificed myself to save you," Caius went on. "Not so that you could only go and die after less than two minutes."

"Where are we?" Andose asked. "Is this really Celestia?"

"No I think it's just an image of Celestia taken from our minds," Caius replied. "Apparently we consider this place important so it's what we see when we have the decision to make. Personally I like to think of this place as important because it's where the final battle for our freedom from the Ori took place so I'm sticking with that thought."

"So we are dead then and we have to decide whether we ascend or go back," Andose summarised.

"No prizes for guessing which one every man here will pick," Caius remarked.

"So why are we all hanging around here then?" Andose asked. "If the choice is so obvious why haven't you and the others gone back to the fleet already? Just get the ascended to ascend you and you can descend again."

"There's the catch," Caius said. "It seems the ascended are having a little disagreement about sending us back."

Caius pointed over his shoulder, drawing Andose's attention to a gathering of four beings in robes.

"What do you mean this isn't allowed?" Janus asked angrily.

"As I have said before Janus," Vejovis said calmly. "This counts as interference and will not be allowed to happen."

"We are simply giving them the choice once only," Oma argued. "Whether they choose to stay ascended or go back is up to them."

"Not if it means you are putting an entire army back into the fight when it should be wiped out," Vejovis pointed out. "That alters the balance significantly."

"Is that so?" Morgan asked sarcastically.

"Yes it is," Vejovis said.

"And what if we go ahead and ascend them without your approval?" Janus asked. "What are you going to do then?"

"That will not happen," Vejovis said. "The others and I are in agreement over this."

"You'll stop us?" Janus asked.

Vejovis said nothing.

"By yourself?" Janus pressed, but only receiving silence in return.

"So what are we going to do now?"

"They will be given a choice," Vejovis said. "They can ascend and stay ascended, they can ascend and then descend but will not be allowed to take part in this fight or they can die."

"That isn't much of a choice," Oma said grimly.

"It is the only one being offered," Vejovis said. "They have already died once so dying twice would not be preferable."

"That only leaves them with the choice of standing back and watching this play out, not being able to take part," Morgan argued.

"But they will survive," Vejovis reasoned.

"For now," Janus shot back. "If they choose mortality then they choose an eventual death. If they choose immortality they face an eternity of knowing they turned their back on their people."

Vejovis shrugged. "I didn't say it was an easy choice to make."

"When did you become so cold Vejovis?" Janus asked angrily. "What happened to you? You used to be a healer. You supported my creation of the Attero device but made sure I deactivated it when we learned the cost."

"If I were truly cold then I wouldn't be offering them the chance to live," Vejovis argued, his temper flaring slightly. "This way they can survive, live long and happy lives and end their days with their families around them."

"And forget about the war happening in another galaxy that they aren't allowed to take part in even though they want to," Morgan pointed out.

"It is their choice," Vejovis simply said. "Those are their options."

"Might I suggest a fourth?" a new voice added.

"Who are you?" Janus asked.

"My name is Andose and my young companion here is Caius," Andose said while Caius waved. "And who might you four be?"

Behind them stood several hundred Liberum soldiers, all intently listening on the conversation.

"I'm Janus and this is Morgan and Oma," Janus said. "And that pain over there is Vejovis."

Andose turned to study Morgan.

"Morgan, as in Morgan Le Fay? Also known as Ganos Lal" Andose asked. "The one who brought down Adria, last of the Ori?"

"Umm…yes," Morgan said hesitantly, noting the wide eyed looks of the Liberum.

"It is an honour," Andose said as he and Caius kneeled, with the rest of the Liberum soldiers following suit and causing Morgan to blush.

Janus snorted at her embarrassment, earning a glare from Morgan.

"You have fans Morgan," he said with a wry grin and earning another death glare.

"Please get up," Morgan requested, embarrassed by the display.

"As I was saying," Andose said. "I have a fourth option I would like you to consider."

"What option?" Janus asked.

"You can send us all back," Andose said. "Right here, right now to where we lay dead on the ground."

"You cannot be serious," Janus said in disbelief.

"Oh I think you'll find he is," Caius said. "And personally I'm all for that option. Anyone else?"

The response was a cheer from the Liberum soldiers.

"Well there you have it," Caius said. "We've come to a decision."

"But it is not an option you have been given," Vejovis said.

"No but it's the choice we've made," Andose retorted. "You were worried about us coming back to fight another day. Well why not make that day today and let us fight for our survival. We will not run away while others fight on."

"If we die then we die," Caius added. "If we live then we die another day."

"Sounds good to me," Janus said.

"I'm not so sure," Oma said hesitantly.

"Neither am I," Morgan said.

"We are," a random soldier shouted.

"We are," the others chorused, taking up the chant. "We are. We are. We are."

"Now what do you say?" Andose asked Vejovis.

"Very well," Vejovis said. "I will send you all back to exactly where you lay down to die. Be ready."

"We're ready," Caius answered.

"By yourself?" Janus asked Vejovis. "Is that even possible?"

"It is for me," Vejovis replied

"What are we going to do?" Caius asked.

Andose placed his palm on his friends head and established a direct mental link, sharing a series of images detailing his plan.

"You're mad," Caius said when the images stopped.

Andose snorted. "So says Pyro Caius, self proclaimed master of the flames."

"I think I'm going to earn that title in a little while," Caius retorted.

"I'm counting on it," Andose replied.

"Let's ready the men," Caius said. "It looks like the last of them have appeared. The rest should be back on the ship by now."

"I hope so," Andose said.

* * *

**Calium – Liberum Base**

Tomin was really beginning to worry. The base was breaking up around them as the Zarasians continued their bombardment, threatening to fall apart completely at any moment. Nearly a thousand of his soldiers had failed to arrive back on the ship yet, which meant that either they were dead or lagging behind. He had also lost contact with Caius and Andose which meant they were probably dead too. There were also hundreds, if not thousands by now, of reapers marching through the corridors heading for the central area and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Caius! Andose! Where are you? Answer me!"

He telepathically shouted at them again and again but received no reply from either of them. Then just as he was about to give up he heard a response.

"We're here," Andose said.

"Where were you?"

"Dead," Caius replied nonchalantly. "But don't worry we're back now and we plan on keeping that way. Well, hopefully anyway."

"What does that mean?" Tomin asked, confused.

"It means stay out of the corridors and get everyone ready to channel their strength to me," Caius answered. "I'm going to need for what I'm about to pull off."

"What are you going to do?"

"Believe me you do not want to know," Caius said with feeling. "And for the record this was not my idea. The blame lies solely with Andose for this one."

"Alright, just…just be careful."

"I will," Caius said. "Now all of you start channelling your power. And I mean all of it!"

"It's coming now."

Elsewhere in the base the crystal on Caius' breastplate began to glow an ethereal blue as the other priors channelled their power through it and into him. Beside him Andose's did the same as he sent significant stores of his own power to aid his friend.

"You can do this Caius," Andose said encouragingly. "Fire is your element."

Caius simply nodded, his eyes fixed tightly shot.

"It's time," he said, sending a telepathic message to everyone he could reach.

Throughout the base those soldiers that had returned to the lower plain from the higher one gathered together I groups as they had been instructed to, while fighting against the reapers that stood before them. That would make it easier for Caius in the moments to come.

Caius' face twisted in concentration as he sent his senses outwards and drew on his pyrokinesis. He reached out with both hands and squeezed tightly, his face going red with the effort and as a result the flame in every burning lamp in every corridor was suddenly extinguished. Caius breathed in deeply panting for air, steeling himself for what was to come.

Throughout the corridors the fighting stopped as both sides suddenly found themselves in pitch darkness. For just a precious little while silence reigned and no weapons were fired.

"Do it," Caius said softly, his breathing having returned to normal and his hands now firmly on his temple.

Andose focused his mind and recalled that feeling he had experienced when he channelled the electric current through his body. In that brief time he had done something he had never thought possible, he had added his own energy to the lightning he created. Raising his hands and recalling that feeling he once again released his internal energy, as lightning. Twin bolts sprang from his palms travelling the length of the long corridor until suddenly they stopped and the corridor was lit up, by fire.

The flames in the lamps had been extinguished but the hydrogen gas that had fuelled them was still flowing freely. In the time that no one had taken a step, fired a shot or made a sound, hydrogen had been pouring into the corridors just waiting for a single spark. That spark had come in the form of Andose's lightning bolts and the chain reaction spread throughout every corridor of the base as the explosion travelled and the hydrogen pockets ignited.

Once again Caius drew upon his pyrokinesis as well as the power of every other prior present in the galaxy. Manipulating the fire he gently controlled it, steering it away from the familiar minds of Liberum and allowing it to surround and engulf the rigid, conformal and alien minds of the reapers. With every last ounce of his strength and control he worked to protect his brothers and slay his enemies. Then as quickly as it had begun it ended and the last of the explosions flickered and died out, putting a halt to the inevitable chain reaction. The inside of the base was now a burnt out wreck that would be all but impossible to salvage, let alone repair but his task had been accomplished. Realising he could finally rest Caius lowered his hands and slumped to the ground utterly exhausted by what he had just done.

"Pyro Caius indeed," Andose muttered as he slung his friend over his soldier and carried him through the scorched beyond recognition corridors, the odd fire of a burning reaper lighting his path.

"Time to go boys," he said telepathically to soldiers. "Before more reapers turn up."

"You wrecked the base," Tomin complained.

"You're planning on detonating the generator anyway so the Zarasians won't get their hands on it," Andose pointed out. "I'm pretty sure that would have wrecked it more."

"Just don't do anything that stupid again."

"Oh this one was all him," Andose said proudly. "We just gave him the strength to keep going. It was entirely down to his skill."

"Pyro Caius," Tomin said in wonder.

"I know," Andose said, shaking his head as he jogged through the base. "There will be no living with him after this."

* * *

"Never underestimate human ingenuity," Janus noted.

"I certainly never have," Morgan said. "Give them a prod and they'll go light years."

Oma frowned. "I'm worried about what the others will make of this."

Janus shrugged. "They can't do anything since the rules weren't broken. I hardly think they will allow themselves to be unhappy with the fact that everyone didn't get slaughtered."

"No but they won't be happy that they were manipulated," Oma argued.

"Some won't be happy, but not all," Morgan countered. "They won't all hate the fact that good people weren't killed."

"They got lucky this time," Janus said. "But that won't last."

"No it won't," Morgan agreed. "But if Zarin makes a move we can make our move against him."

"Remember the warning Vejovis gave us," Oma said.

"What will happen will happen," Janus said. "All we can do is carry on as we intend to and see what will happen."

* * *

"Is everyone onboard?" Tomin asked from his command chair.

"We are now," Caius said, as he and Andose walked onto the bridge, moving to stand by the other priors.

"Then it's time to go," Tomin said. "The moment we're in hyperspace I want you all to go tend to the wounded. For now I need your help getting us out of here."

The other priors nodded.

"Then lend me your strength brothers," Tomin requested.

The priors closed their eyes and concentrated, the crystals on their breast plates beginning to glow as they channelled their strength to Tomin in order to boost his control of the ship.

The Liberum warship slowly rose up from the confines of the base hanger, having parked there to allow for faster boarding and to avoid the Zarasian bombardment after the shield started to fail. Rocks impacted the shield as the base started to crumble but they had no effect on the powerful shield. The massive warship easily left the confines of the hanger bay, passed through the shield and into the atmosphere, but not before firing off a shot from one its pulse cannons as an afterthought. The carefully aimed shot hit the area around the stargate pounding the rock and causing the stargate to tip forward. The weight of the stargate did the rest and the sixty four thousand pound technological wonder careened forwards, hitting the already weakened rock and causing it to shatter completely. The sheer pressure being exerted on the weakened spot meant that the gate was able to break all the way through the crust and plummeted to the ground below.

Picking up speed the _Liberatus_ moved quickly, before the Zarasians could target her, and rose up through the atmosphere. With a thought Tomin initiated the self destruct. As power built and built in the neutrino-ion generator the entire piece of machinery began to shake as the generated power found it had no where to go until finally it detonated. The floating base shattered into a million fragments as it was destroyed from the inside, consumed by a fiery explosion that marked the largest unintentional funeral pyre this world had ever witnessed. In an instant hundreds, probably even thousands, of dead reapers and a number of living ones were incinerated.

The warship continued, onwards and upwards, until it broke through the final atmospheric layer and out into open space and into a torrential downpour of weapons fire. Plasma bolt after plasma bolt came at them in a wave but most fizzled out before they could come into contact with the ship. To minimise damage done to the planet the Liberatus had made sure to come out of atmosphere as far from the enemy fleet as possible, using the planets overpowered magnetic field to her until the very last moment. With the Zarasian fleet closing fast Tomin did the only thing he could do in his fatigued state and opened a hyperspace window. On the bridge of the Liberatus he finally relinquished control of the vessel to her crew and sunk back in his chair, his eyes too heavy to open for the moment.

If he had drawn on more of his brothers strength then he would not feel so exhausted but he had used a mere trickle of what they had offered him, relying almost entirely on his own power. He knew that their strength would be needed to heal all the wounded they had and that some already beyond help. This one battle had cost them, and the war had only just begun. They had done what they could here. The rest was up to the official members of the allied forces.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

"So things are progressing nicely on this new world," Zarin mused.

"The Liberum forces have been routed but the exact number of casualties they took is unknown," a Zarasian officer explained. "They triggered a self destruct protocol and destroyed their base making an exact count impossible."

"What were the losses sustained to our forces?"

"We lost six small craft and another two were crippled. One of our troop transports was also destroyed with all hands. Those troops not aboard were killed during the assault on their base."

"How did the new weapons perform?"

"They were most effective. The Liberum employed a barrier shield that was able to withstand our plasma cannons but not our heavier beam weapons."

Zarin frowned. "Hmm, that is not good news. Only a few of our ship types have the larger version of the beam weapon. No matter, we don't want to destroy our targets anyway when we can easily subjugate them."

"Yes Etere."

"Have an additional transport sent to support our invasion force," Zarin ordered. "I want the local populace brought to heel as quickly as possible. Send down scout forces and determine the major population centres then land our ground forces there. I want minimal casualties to be sustained on both sides, no need to kill all our new subjects. Before that though I want the main hydrogen production facility that Tomin so kindly pointed out to us secured and under our control. Once they see they we have control of it and are still willing to provide them with the resource produced resistance should be minimal."

"At once Etere," said the officer, bowing before leaving.

Zarin pressed a button on his desk. A wall mounted screen activated and displayed the face of Cyber Lord Azamoth.

"What can I do for you today Etere?"

"What is the status of the controller project?"

"The assault deployment platform is fully operational and ready for use," Azamoth with his trademark maniacal grin.

"Good, we may have use for them soon. The other powers seem to make a habit of interfering with our plans for expansion." Zarin gave a predatory grin. "They will certainly be in for a surprise when they experience first hand what we still have."

Azamoth smiled. "My new creations will finally get to prove what they are capable of doing. They will not disappoint you Etere."

"See that they do not," Zarin said. "I want the latest hybrid models ready to be shipped for the troop transport about to be deployed. They will either have a full combat test or minor pacification duties on the latest world in the Empire."

"They will be ready Etere, and everything I have promised. They will grind your enemies into dust and scatter them to the winds."

"I sincerely hope so Cyber Lord. I sincerely hope so."

* * *

**Calium**

With the Liberum now gone the Zarasians could finally set about completing their primary objective in regards to this world, assimilating it into the Zarasian Empire. There was however still two obstacles that needed to be overcome before this mission could be completed. The first was the planets local populace who, while not being a threat to the technological and military might of the Zarasians could still offer them some resistance. The second was the planets powerful magnetic field which affected their sensors enough to render them close to inoperable at any reasonable distance. This second obstacle only served to further compound the first. The Zarasians response to this was to send in fighters as scout craft and use their sensors to map the planet.

The one advantage they did have though was that Tomin had, as a sign of trust, informed them of a way to bring the local populace to heel almost immediately. The Calium people did not use fossil fuels or even rely on wood burning, like a lot of civilisations at their tech level, but on hydrogen gas. Long ago the Calium had discovered that a certain type of fungus produces hydrogen gas naturally and they had quickly set out to exploit that fact. They had erected massive green houses where the fungus could grow and produce hydrogen, which would then be extracted, stored and transported for use as the fuel of their industry and more importantly their airship defence craft. If the Zarasians were able to take control of the production facility then they could force the population to capitulate. Of course they were not simply going to use the same tactic as the Liberum as that would require having a ship in orbit. By stationing their troops in the facility they could control the flow of hydrogen depending on how the locals behaved. More importantly it meant they could make sure the locals only got what they needed to survive and not fuel their military airships.

Fighters were quickly deployed from the warships. Numbering nearly a thousand they approached the planet as a mass and quickly spread out to perform reconnaissance duties. It was arguably a risky gambit, sending their fighters into the unknown, but to the Zarasians the potential cost was nothing compared to what could be gained. Reapers after all, even a few thousand of them, could always be replaced relatively quickly and so were not highly valued, but information that could decide the course of a battle was invaluable. The troop transports deployed their own craft, with their own specialised purpose. From the four surviving ships thirty two drop pods were launched at high speeds, gently slowing as they tore through the atmosphere and landed near the hydrogen production facility. Following came forty large craft the size and shape of a Goa'uld landing craft. These ships were yet another one of the Zarasians secret weapons and they quickly joined the drop pods on the ground.

In space the warships took up a defensive formation around the troop transports, wary of any attempt to destroy them before they could deploy their precious cargo. As it turned out their paranoia proved to be prudent.

Space momentarily hazed as forty five massive ships dropped cloaks and appeared in front of the Zarasian fleet. Suddenly the Zarasians found themselves facing the entire might of the allied offensive fleet consisting of Pegasus, O'Neill and, as they were launched, Night Fury class ships. The warships immediately moved to intercept the vessels but the Zarasian fighters stayed in the atmosphere, possibly they saw the fruitlessness of joining the fight since they would not be able to offer even the scantest resistance against such a large and powerful fleet of ships. The Zarasians apparently realised, as did the allies, that they could wreak havoc hiding amongst the floating rocks until they could all be hunted down.

Anyone who was paying attention to subspace communications would note a mocking transmission coming from the Tau'ri flagship.

"Hey there Zarin, if you're listening then thanks for getting rid of the Liberum. Now all we need to do is mope up your forces."

The two fleets quickly came into contact with one another. Space was filled with plasma bolts, ion bolts, railgun rounds and plasma beams as a brutal, but brief, battle was fought for supremacy. Night Fury's hunted in packs, chasing down their strike craft counterparts with ease and viciously destroying them in a torrent of weapons fire. Capital ships exchanged blows but once again the Zarasians found themselves outmatched and outnumbered. The Tau'ri and Asgard had built their ships for battle and they were easily capable of withstanding several volleys from the Zarasian ships. As it turned out they only needed to survive one as the Zarasian vessels were double teamed and succumbed after a single volley of plasma beam fire. Even the powerful Zarasian battleship didn't last long as it found itself earning the attention of several Asgard and Tau'ri ships. It was a well known concept of warfare that if you take the air then you can determine the course of any modern battle. In the space age that meant that you needed to control both space and the skies. The Zarasians knew that they couldn't control space with what they had but they still had a chance of holding the ground and the skies.

With the warships dead or dying the allied fleet converged at full speed towards the troop transports, but their sacrifice had not been in vain. Just before the allied fleet could make it into weapons range the troop transports revealed their party piece. A large cylinder shaped craft deployed from the base of the ships and shot towards the surface before the transports were swarmed and destroyed.

They had not been idly sitting by and waiting for destruction however. The forty large craft they had deployed had been spitting out half track vehicles like an illusionist pulling rabbits out of their hat. Somehow twelve hundred vehicles of varying shapes and purposes were now on the ground, despite the fact that the craft that spat them out could not possibly have held so many. They were joined by the twenty thousand reapers that had deployed via the ring platforms in the drop pods.

Onboard the _Weir_ Colonel Sheppard fumed as he received that particular report. They always knew the Zarasians had to something in the way of a standing army but they hadn't suspected they would have armoured vehicles of such variety, even if they were apparently designed off the same basic chassis. The Zarasians practically had their own version of the Stryker for crying out loud and that still didn't explain how they had managed to get so many in ships that shouldn't be able to hold them. It was times like he wished he had the SPECTRE's here to sneak into the enemy lines and sow some carnage but they were off on a scouting mission since the fleet was otherwise occupied with this debacle.

He also had another pressing matter to deal with in the form of all the Zarasian fighters zipping through the atmosphere. No doubt those things would play havoc with any attempt made to take out the invasion force, not to mention slaughter any of the locals they encountered.

"Get a target lock on the Zarasians and starting beaming them out of there."

"We can't sir, there is wide spread interference in the area that is prevent our transport beams from operating."

"Then target the Zarasian forces for orbital bombardment," Sheppard ordered.

"Sir they have raised a theatre shield."

"How powerful?"

"Sensors indicate if we focused our firepower we could break through it. But the resulting blast wave would spread to encompass the Calium infrastructure as well as cause atmospheric pollution and possibly even damage the planets crust."

So offensive beaming and orbital bombardment were both out. Sheppard was very rapidly running out of options.

"How many Zarasian fighters did we count entering the atmosphere?" he asked.

"Eight hundred and eighty eight sir."

"I did hear that right didn't I? You did just say eight eight eight?"

"Yes sir."

"Well that's weird. So we have nearly nine hundred enemy fighters littering the sky. If anyone has any good news I would really like to hear it."

"The fleet is reporting UAVs are ready for launch and the _Sagittarius_ has just uncloaked and is awaiting orders sir."

The _Sagittarius_ was their branding spanking new fresh off the production line carrier class ship. Similar in shape to the Pegasus class her elongated hangers could hold at least five hundred 302's and eighty transport shuttles. But birds weren't the only thing she carried.

"Thank you. Order all UAV's launched and on hunter killer duties. I want those birds out of my sky yesterday. Order the full compliment on the Sagittarius launched and on escort duty. She is to enter the atmosphere and begin deploying troops and vehicles."

"Yes sir."

"Also launch recon drones and have them scout the enemy forces. I do not want the Zarasians pulling a fast one on us."

"Yes sir."

"And get Thor on the line."

It looked like they would need the Titans and their new weapon packages for this one. The bridge was filled with a flurry of activity as the crew carried out his list of orders. Efficiency would be instrumental here as the Zarasians were already on the move, with their shield moving along with them. The battle for Calium had only just begun.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	66. The Battle Begins

**Here's the next chapter for you all, questions will be answered and others will be asked. Note: I only own what characters i create, the names and places i invent and the ships and vehicles i seem to be designing in droves for this single story.**

**I would like to thank AlexanderD for all his help and i strongly recomend reading his story New Dawn. I hope he likes the character named after him Admiral Alec Xander. **

**For those of you interested in what some of the ships featured in this story look like here are a few sketches on photobucket: albums/ae166/Senrab_Nomis/ **

**Please review and i will respond. Or alternatively post in the thread for this story in my forum. topic/84023/35075481/1/**

**Review Responses**

**AlexanderD: The ground battle will be where the allies learn just what they are up against. Like when battling the Goa'uld the ability to either demolish or fight on an even footing with the reapers will determine the way the rest of the war is fought. In many ways this is a first for both sides, with both of them learning things from what will happen.**

**Oddliver: The fighters can be dealt with easily enough, and you'll see how shortly. You have raised a very important point though, and you'll see the Zarasian response to Titans in the coming chapters.**

**BIG Z1776: The numbers are possible if you take a relatively small number of personnel from a number of countries and their numerous armed forces. However i am at my limit at the moment, as i mention in the coming chapters. The majority of the hundred thousand recruited went toward the fleet, with only a portion consisting of the ground forces. It also helps that the Asgard and Vanir contribute their own people.**

**Cdoctor: They won't be that easy to defeat i'm afraid, for multiple reasons. I wouldn't be doing them justice if i simply swept them aside. However if there are some things you would like to see more of i'm always open to suggestions.**

**romanhellhound: I really couldn't resist that title.**

** : I told you. Thank you for all your voluntary help.**

**Seraphin2011: With no Ori behind them and limited support from their brothers the Priors were never going to be godlike. But like you saw in the last chapter they are still capable of some pretty impressive feats. I know what you mean about the length and no one is more surprised than me, believe me. I suppose because i focused more on the individuals it just turned out that way. This is regretably a learning experience for both sides which means they are near constantly being surprised. The idea that they could land such a large force in such a small amount of time caught them off guard. The one thing they have done successfully though is keep their atttention off the Calium people. You're right about the Cyber Lord appearing more often but he is more the mad scientist who only wants to continue his work and doesn't have Zarin's meglomania. Vejovis will also be appearing more as well.**

* * *

**Calium**

The locals had not been idle in preparing defences for the planet. The hydrogen production facility was their most valuable industrial asset and such had merited a sizeable defensive force and a strong defensive line. Of course if a space capable enemy wanted to destroy the facility outright then all these defences quickly became moot since an orbital strike would be able to turn it into a smoking crater with ease. However the Zarasians no longer had any ships, but what they did have was a very large army. Twenty thousand well equipped soldiers with armour support was not something the Calium people were capable of handling on their own. Never mind the near nine hundred fighters flying around. Thankfully though the fighters wouldn't be a problem for much longer and they would soon find they had problems of their own to deal with. The Tau'ri vessels quickly launched their UAV F-302's to hunt down their Zarasian counterparts. Over three thousand birds took to the sky in a hunt for the enemy and eventually the kill count began to rise. Under the direction of twenty five networked ISIS AI programs the reaper fighters soon found themselves being hunted down and eventually destroyed. Some still remained intact though, working together in groups or hiding in crevices of the floating rocks they continued to survive despite the forces stacked against them. Eventually they would be found and hunted down but for now they survived. However the skies were now controlled by the allies.

The _Sagittarius_ launched her own birds into space but these ones stuck close to their carrier, their role being escort duty. As the carrier descended through the atmosphere they circled around her, protecting her from any attempt to attack her as she delivered her precious cargo.

As she came to a rest and hovered over the facility the natives looked up in awe at the massive and powerful alien vessel, it seemed to radiate raw power and instil a sense of strength with its very presence. With this vessel watching over them they might just have a chance against the army that was even now marching towards them. From the two larger hangers a steady stream of ships started to emerge. In total eighty modified transport shuttles flew towards the surface landing between the facility and the approaching army. Hatches on the side opened and began deploying a six hundred and forty strong armoured force that was composed primarily of Titans but also included upgraded Abram tanks. Joining them were a full brigade of tempest armour clad foot soldiers deployed from the Tactical Assault Transports carried by the other ships of the fleet. With the transporter jammer still operational this was the only way to get them on the ground.

Men and women from multiple countries on Earth gathered alongside members of the Calium military to defend this world from invaders. They faced an enemy that knew no fear, no mercy and no remorse, an enemy that would not stop until they had completed their objective or they lay dead on the ground. They couldn't be negotiated with or convinced to surrender. They were reapers, killers without a conscience or fear to stay their hand. The soldiers who lined the trenches and fortifications and crewed the vehicles of war knew this and yet they stood here and against this force anyway.

The best weapons they had available were lined up here against the Zarasian threat and in the hands of these people. The Calium people may not possess advanced technology but they did have weaponry capable of doing the job that was required of them, namely killing reapers. Long ago they had acquired weapons from the Genii and had been using them ever since. Twenty thousand Calium foot soldiers now stood against the reapers along side five thousand five hundred Tau'ri foot soldiers, with another four hundred manning upgraded Abrams and five hundred and forty Asgard and Vanir manning upgraded Titans.

"They are getting closer," Sheppard noted.

"Yes but we are ready for them," Thor replied.

Sheppard gave him a look.

"Ready as we can be," Thor corrected.

"Are your Titans ready to go?" Sheppard asked.

"I believe the new weapon packages will be able to provide us with the edge we require to win this battle," Thor stated.

"I'll admit they certainly give our forces a certain amount of versatility that the military generally favours," Sheppard admitted. "But I'm still worried about what the enemy have to use against us. Until a little while ago we didn't even know they had vehicles and yet those drop ships somehow brought thirty each to the fight."

"Yes that fact has me concerned as well," Thor admitted. "Those ships should not have been able to carry so many and yet here they are. They also appear to have a versatility of their own."

"I recommend priority targeting on those vehicles," Sheppard said.

"I agree," Thor said.

"And whatever the hell is generating that shield," Sheppard added. "We take that out we can at least use air strikes against them."

"The problem is that they are moving everything they have towards the production facility, including their ships and those large cylinders," Thor said.

"Is your artillery ready?" Sheppard asked.

"It is," Thor said.

"Power readings suggest that those drop ships are the ones generating the shield," Sheppard explained. "We take them out then the shield should go down."

"Hopefully," Thor said.

"Hopefully," Sheppard agreed.

"We'll send in the Titans first," Thor said. "Your tanks do not have the same ability to pull out of the engagement zone as easily."

"Agreed," Sheppard said. "And good luck."

"I have led many battles Colonel Sheppard," Thor said. "This one will not be my last."

"We generally don't advise our generals to fight on the front lines," Sheppard commented. "It usually prolongs their life span."

"If I die I get a new body," Thor stated. "Besides I have no intention of dying. I am known as a god of storms after all. I think it's time the Zarasians experienced one."

* * *

On the ground Thor stood tall in his Titan suit. His close combat weapons package meant he had two plasma storm cannons and a plasma flamethrower on each arm in addition to his standard suit weapons.

Severing his comm. link with Sheppard he immediately started issuing orders into the battle net. "Foot soldiers hold the line. You will be needed later but not just yet. Titans we will be making a pre-emptive strike on the enemy forces. Close quarters units will engage their infantry while heavy weapons units target vehicles. Long range units, you will stay behind the main group and target their drop ships. Tank and artillery units will hold position but be prepared to give us supporting fire if the shield goes down. If all goes well and the shield goes down I will order a general retreat."

"Yes sir."

"Titans forward," Thor ordered.

The mass of Titans made the ground tremble as they advanced towards the enemy. Thor knew that even if they took down the shield the enemy would eventually get close that their artillery could no longer used. Orbital bombardment would certainly be out of the question is it would engulf their own forces as well the enemies.

This was going to be the first real battle they would face against the Zarasians on the ground, one that would determine how the rest played out. For the first time both sides were putting the full capabilities of their forces against one another. If the allies couldn't win here then they would have no chance of beating the rest of the Zarasian forces.

* * *

Elsewhere on the planet UAVs chased after Zarasian fighters. A flight of five working together patrolled the skies. One of many assigned to guard the area around the largest settlement on the planet. Home to several hundred thousand people this floating island was the pinnacle of civilisation on Calium. Several Zarasian fighters had already approached the planet only to be shot down by one of the many defence emplacements situated around the cities perimeter. As more fighters swarmed to the city, drawn like moths to a flame, the air became filled with flak fire as more and more weapons added their voices to the fight. UAVs were quick to follow as their limited, but still capable sensors thanks to support from the ships above, detected the flocking enemy craft and moved to intercept them before they could muster sufficient numbers to overwhelm the capitals defences. Nearby the main Calium military base, which the _Weir_ had visited a short time ago, found itself similarly under siege. However, in this case, its defences were strong enough and its civilian population small enough to not warrant the assistance of the UAV flights in any significant number. Guns of varying sizes opened fire in a bid to take down the heavily armoured fighter craft and were mostly successful. Say what you will about the primitive nature of Calium technology they knew what they were doing when it came to projectile weaponry. They felt they were ready for anything that could be thrown at them.

What they were not ready for was the Zarasian transport ship that exited hyperspace over the planet. It would later on be decided that the ship must have made a short jump from a nearby system to reach the planet without sensors picking it up. The allied vessels in orbit quickly swooped in on the ship and started pounding it with weapons fire, bringing its shields down quickly with the rest of the ship shattering moments later. However the brief moments that it remained unharmed were enough for drop pods to be prepped and launched in short order.

A dozen spiked cylinders sped towards the surface of the planet, scattering the moment they had hit vacuum. Meanwhile the ring platforms of the drop pods on the ground activated, deploying more troops into the fight. Recon drones immediately turned their electronic eyes towards these creatures. They were big, in fact they were huge. At nearly three meters tall, heavily muscled, with cybernetic eye pieces and armour plating these were some of the biggest reapers that had ever been seen before. From each of the eight drop pods eight of these lumbering creatures emerged, wielding what looked to be the mother of all mini-guns with power cables leading to a pack on their backs. The sight of these things emerging from the pods was enough to make the operators of the recon drones gulp.

While these pods had made it to ground unscathed the twelve plummeting through the atmosphere were not as fortunate since they had different intended destinations. Six of them were heading straight for the capital city of Calium while the other six were heading for the major military base, presumably because these targets had been marked by the reapers manning the surviving fighters. These twelve pods were subjected to intense flak fire from whatever gun could turn to face them before they touched down. More than one stream of weapons fire found their mark as the pods got closer and closer to the ground, along with several missile strikes from the UAVs circling above. Before any of them touched the ground they exploded showering large chunks of debris onto their targets. No one wanted to see what would have happened if those behemoths had been unleashed throughout the military base, let alone in the middle of a civilian population.

* * *

Inside his suit Thor stared at the sensor generated image of the large reapers. His forces were about to penetrate and engage the enemy forces for the first time but these reapers presented a problem. While they were few their capabilities were unknown which made them an unknown variable in his plans for assaulting the front line of reapers. Pushing hesitation to one side he reasoned that a mere forty eight of these monsters would not be able to present much difficulty for the five hundred strong Titan group that was even now advancing on the enemy.

"All units continue forward," he ordered.

Forty eight or four thousand eight hundred, it made no difference. No matter how many of those things there were they were still only flesh and blood and thus fragile. His Titans were pure metal constructs that would render them limb from limb if necessary. Finally they were approaching the perimeter of the shield that protected the reaper army from orbital bombardment. Like those on the Titans and tanks it was not a solid shield, being designed to allow slow moving or non-moving objects to pass through it so that it would work even while its location was shifting. A single stride and his battle line of Titans would be inside the shield and from there it was a simple matter to jet boost right next to the front lines of the reapers.

The reapers had yet to fire a shot at them but that was probably because the shield appeared to be designed to block energy blasts, meaning that so long as they were inside it they were safe. It was also meant the shield matrix was much stronger as a result, making it that much harder to penetrate. Firing at the Titans would only serve to weaken the shield so the reapers did not bother, instead they waited. Vehicles were brought to the front of the line, acting as an armoured shield for the more vulnerable infantry while the lumbering hulk reapers caught up with the main group. Thor would have adopted a similar strategy himself. Allowing the enemy to come at you piece meal just made them easier to defeat since you could make them die a death of a thousand cuts. Of course Thor had no intention of playing into the enemies hands like that. He had his own strategy and he did not intend to waver from it.

"Attack!" he ordered.

As one two hundred close combat variants stepped through the shield, followed shortly by two hundred heavy weapon variants who wielded a pair of triple plasma blasters on each arm and a pair of firefly rocket pods. The air was filled with green plasma bolts as the reaper army unleashed hell on those that had dared to enter their domain. Reapers fired bolt after bolt from their rifles while the line of half tracks fired massive bolts from the cannons on their backs. The shields of the Titans took the damage but they wouldn't hold forever. The Titans quickly sent their response in the form of large numbers of orange plasma bolts sent at the reaper army. As the heavy weapon Titans, crossed the threshold of the shield and the vehicles moved to encircle the Titans the close combat variants saw their chance. Activating the boosters in their feet they jumped high into the air, clearing the way for the heavy weapons titans to begin their own assault. From the shoulders of the two hundred Titans two green beams of plasma shot across the gap between the two fighting forces and impacted the line of Zarasian tanks. Their heavy trinium armour held momentarily before succumbing to the raw destructive energy and the tanks exploded just as the close combat variants touched back down in front of them. With no more tanks to stop them the CC Titans ripped through the reaper lines like tissue paper while the HW Titans split in two and spread out, allowing the one hundred long range weapons Titans came up behind them. As the CCTs either cooked reapers alive or riddled them with holes the HWTs pounded the tanks with large plasma bolts and sent hundreds of firefly rockets careening through the sky.

Working in concert with one another the Titans hammered the enemy force into submission. In own suit Thor casually fired off a burst from his plasma storm cannons and mowing down a line of reapers while keeping one eye on the status readings for the other Titans. He mentally willed the slower long range Titans to get into position that much sooner. The HW Titans were giving more than they took but they were outnumbered five to one and their beam cannons needed a while to recharge with the shields getting priority for power. None had lost shields yet but they were getting worryingly close. Luckily the LRTs were about to enter the shield perimeter and the HWTs had manoeuvred out of the way. Nodding to himself he fired out a shockwave from the emitter in his palm.

Stepping inside the shield the one hundred LRTs braced themselves, setting their legs further apart to lower their centre of gravity. From the mountings on their backs a single massive plasma beam cannon rose and rotated before settling into place above their heads. Simultaneously a dozen NPDs in the pods on their shoulders armed themselves. Sharing targeting data with one another they systematically locked on to the first ten of forty targets. One hundred beams of green plasma, four times more potent than the shoulder mounts, shot over the intense land battle to impact the hulls of ten of the landing craft that had deployed the vehicles. The mobile deployment platforms were giving off significant power readings but when the beams hit those readings dropped significantly. Ten beams struck the same five centimetre radius of space, burning through the armoured hull of the vessel to strike at the much more fragile interior. It wasn't long before the beams burned all the way through to the ships reactors, causing the vessels to detonate violently, showering the area with chunks of debris.

Inside his suit Thor noted with satisfaction that his sensors were registering a twenty five percent drop in the strength of the shield dome. However his forces were still taking a pounding.

"LRTs continue firing but hold on the NPDs," he ordered. "All units are to prepare for immediate withdrawal from the combat zone on my signal."

A mere second after he given the order and another ten of the MDPs were destroyed by the second volley of fire. The loss of another ten of the craft only seemed to spur the Zarasians on. The return fire seemed to have increased in magnitude. If the HWTs were overwhelmed then his detachment would be surrounded and would quickly meet the same fate. For the sake of the course of this battle it was time to take a risk.

"Split your fire," he ordered.

The LRTs quickly adjusted their targeting parameters so that each of the remaining twenty MDPs were struck in one go. The plasma beams were so powerful that even half their number was sufficient to cut through the hull armour like a hot knife through butter. With the last of the vessels generating it gone the dome shield faded.

"All units retreat!" Thor ordered.

As one the five hundred Titans engaged the boosters in their feet and took to the skies, jumping backwards away from the enemy army and towards their own lines.

"Artillery units open fire!" Thor ordered once they were far enough away.

The forty Titans that had remained behind the defence line finally hunkered down and directed power to the massive weapons they carried on their backs. The plasma bomb launchers had been designed to be the equivalent of the Earth howitzer, a fearsome weapon in its own right, and were capable of dealing devastating amounts of damage across a wide area. When used in groups like this the potential destruction that could be unleashed by these weapons was horrific and the order to unleash them had just been given.

The reapers looked up as glowing yellow balls of plasma rained down from the sky. The moment the orbs hit the ground the containment fields shattered and an expanding orb of burning plasma consumed them. Across the length and breadth of the Zarasian army explosions bloomed, blocking them from both sight and sensors. In moments the entire army was consumed by plasma fire.

"Keep firing," Thor ordered.

He was not taking any chances.

* * *

**Calium Capital**

In an old and darkened warehouse a young boy wondered around, searching for his treasure. Like the other Calium citizens he had watched as the strange alien flying machines had battled with one another but now they were all gone. The last of the Zarasian fighters in the area had been dispatched and the UAV's were off hunting down more.

Now he was searching for what he had seen fall from the sky when those metallic cylinders had plummeted towards the city before exploding. Numerous pieces of debris had come down when the drop pods exploded but one piece had touched down nearby. He had watched as it hit the roof of this warehouse and now he was going to find it.

It had been easy to get inside, with everyone's attention on the ground battle occurring not very far from here and the possibility of more enemy fighters appearing no one had noticed him slip inside. He knew he was right, that it had landed in the warehouse, when he looked up at the roof and saw the hole. In the blackened warehouse the hole in the roof allowed the light to shine through and create a spotlight, marking the location of his treasure.

His eyes widened when he saw that it had hit the ground so hard it had created an impact crater deep enough to leave it partially buried. But he could still see the gleam of the metal as it glinted in the light. Inching closer he eventually came to the hole. Reaching into it he gently brushed away the stones that covered it, revealing its shape. He stared in fascination as he noticed that it was oddly spherical, with lightly etched curving lines leading to a small circle.

Just as he was about to reach out to grab it a monotone voice from the shadows interrupted him. "Leave it boy."

He jumped back as though he had been stung just as his fingers had been about to touch the metal. His head spun round as a male figure, clad in a Calium military uniform and wearing a sidearm, emerged from the shadows.

"Get out of here," he said emotionlessly.

The young boy hesitantly retreated when confronted by this gruff, stone faced giant as another soldier appeared alongside him. This one seemed friendlier than the first, more human. The first gave him the creeps.

"Go on boy, go home," the second said, offering him a brief friendly smile.

The boy scampered away, disappearing into the darkness.

The second man chuckled. "Little scamp. Remember when you were like that?"

"No," the first said in his monotone voice, walking forwards to the crater.

"Right…anyway what's in that hole?" the second man asked.

"This," the first man said. He knelt down and plucked out the sphere before rolling it towards the feet of the other man and walking back towards him.

"Strange," the first man said, looking down at it. "You'd think it would be more damaged wouldn't you?"

"No," the first man said, before hitting his partner on the back of the head with the butt of his pistol.

The other man slumped to the ground, unconscious.

A little while later he awoke with a groan and a throbbing pain in the back of his head. As he came to his senses he realised that he was lying face down on the floor and that his shirt was missing. The feeling of the cold stone against his bare chest gave him a chill, and something, was poking him in the back in several places.

"What…" he began to say before he screamed as he felt a sharp pain in the back of neck, and then he screamed no more.

A few moments later he pushed himself to his feet and put his shirt back on while the first man watched as still as a statue. He flexed his muscles and opened and closed his jaw repeatedly, like he was getting used to his body. As he did up the buttons on hi shirt he began to speak, his voice now monotone.

"Motor control check complete," he said. "Vocal check complete."

He calmly drew his sidearm from its holster, studying it for a moment. Then without warning he spun around and pointed it at a cowering figure hidden in the shadows.

"Come out or I will shoot you," he said.

The boy from earlier slowly came forwards, visibly fighting the urge to bolt with every step he took. He was absolutely terrified by what he had just seen and was wishing he had never hung around, no, that he had never set foot in this warehouse just to find that…that thing.

"We have directives that state we are to prevent unnecessary casualties so we will tie you up," the second man said as the first moved over to the boy. "However if you attempt to escape you will be shot. Do you understand?"

The boy nodded fervently as the first man reached him and rendered him unconscious with a blow to the head. As the first man proceeded to bound and gag the child with torn strips of his own clothing the second fixed his clothes. He adjusted his collar to cover up the shining metal up with the glowing red light and the metallic tendrils leading into the back of his neck from it.

* * *

As the artillery Titans signalled that they needed to cease fire for weapons cool down the bombardment of the Zarasian army ceased. As the smoke and dust thrown up by the countless explosions settled the remains of the reaper host was uncovered. Hundreds, probably thousands, of reapers lay dead on the ground while hundreds of vehicles had been reduced the burning wrecks. However the majority of the army was still alive thanks to the small overlapping dome shields being projected by dozens of half track variants, built solely for the purpose, that were scattered amongst the force. Thor had wondered what purpose the different vehicle variants served, and now he knew. Despite the continual bombardment that had blanketed the area the reapers continued to march forwards and were now that much closer to their lines. Soon they would be on top of them and inside the grounds of the hydrogen production facility, at which point it would be solely down to the infantry force to win this battle. This battle had just gotten more complicated.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	67. Win Some, Lose Some

**Hello all and merry christmas, and yes it is christmas here in the UK. I figured i would post this one early as my christmas present to you all. The next chapter will be posted at the regular time next week. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Calium Hydrogen Production Facility**

In front of the facility a trench line had been dug which the people of Calium had prepared to defend against a ground incursion that might be attempted. Along the length of the defence line numerous concrete bunkers and pill boxes had been constructed to add an extra layer of defence. Manning the defence line and armed with rifles and machine guns were ten thousand Calium soldiers, a large part of their standing army. Supporting them were the alien forces of the Tau'ri, Asgard and Vanir. Five hundred and forty Asgard and Vanir crewed various Titan battlesuits while four hundred Tau'ri were manning Abrams tanks upgraded with Homeworld Command technology. Joining the Calium soldiers in the trenches were five thousand five hundred Tau'ri soldiers, an entire brigade. A metaphorical line in the sand had been drawn and an army of reapers was heading right towards it.

The Tau'ri soldiers may have been fewer than their Calium counterparts but they were far more deadly. For one thing these men and women represented the best of the best, the alpha dogs of the alpha dogs from multiple countries across Earth. They had to be after all, since they and the only the only other two brigades operated by Homeworld Command could be all that stood between Earth and an enemy army. As such they had been given equipment that would not only keep them alive as long as possible but also bring as many of Earths enemies down as was possible while they were still fighting. Two years ago the multiple countries of the IOA had begun their mass recruitment drives for personnel. The majority had gone towards crewing the constantly expanding fleet but the rest had spent the following two years training to fight battles on alien worlds and the people from them. They had been trained to be the best and they been equipped with the best. For the sake of their survival they had been given Mark II tempest battle armour, with servo motors to enhance their strength and thick trinium armour plating that could shrug off regular bullets. For the sake of bringing down the enemy they had been armed with mass produced railgun rifles and a particle magnum sidearm. The railgun rifles were a dream weapon made possible thanks to superconductors, strong materials and a crystal power cell, the same power cell now found in the grip of Earth made particle magnums and making them universal. Accurate up to a range of nine hundred meters and with a maximum range of several kilometres, with a magazine of one hundred rounds and capable of firing seventy rounds per minute this was the most powerful rifle the Tau'ri had ever built. One in every ten man squad operated a weapons emplacement with a much higher firing rate, if admittedly a smaller range, an X-699 plasma cannon.

Against an army moving under the protection of mobile shield domes however these weapons were useless unless used up close when you would be within the confines of said shield dome. As a result the defending forces were playing a waiting game while the reaper army advanced closer. The truly frustrating thing was that even after they had taken out the main shield and then subsequently bombarded the drop pods from orbit they were still unable to use beam weapons offensively. The shields protecting the army were blocking the transporters. Those strange cylinders which had been deployed before the transport ships had been destroyed were even generating a shield of their own and were hovering above the ground, moving with the reaper army. Possibly these were some kind of command ship, responsible for directing the army and maybe even held the hatchery queen.

The shields protecting the reaper army were unbreakable with the weapons they had at their disposal. Though not from lack of trying. Railgun rounds, NPDs and plasma bombs that the Titans had unleashed on the shield had managed to weaken but not break through. Plasma beams had been more effective but the amount of energy expended to punch through the overlapping domes meant they were then unable to break through the heavy armour of the shield generating vehicles. The Zarasians had not taken any chances when designing them and they possessed the thickest and strongest armour of any of their vehicles.

Unless they wanted to charge straight into the fight they would have to sit back and wait for the reapers to come to them. Given that that would mean the enemy were attacking a fortified position with only slightly larger numerical forces the defenders were happy enough to wait until that happened and then have Titans jump behind the army to leave them completely encircled. No matter how Thor saw it the enemy were eventually going to lose this battle. To be extra sure he even had a few Titans performing raids. They would move into the shield dome, fire off a few rockets or plasma beams and then retreat before their shields dropped. Priority targets had been the surviving enemy tanks since the shield generators were far too numerous and this tactics effectiveness too short lived. When the shield domes finally encompassed the defence line the Titans and Abrams would eliminate the surviving vehicles while Calium and Earths finest dealt with the reapers. Hopefully when those floating cylinders went down the reapers command structure would as well, spreading chaos through the ranks and making it easier to eliminate them.

Of course that was assuming nothing else went wrong.

* * *

**Calium Main Military Base**

Commander Kavier sat at his desk faced with the bane of all military officers everywhere, paperwork. His mind though was not on the paperwork but the battle happening not very far from here. Technically it was out of his jurisdiction since it was purely a land battle and he commanded the air fleet but he would still like to be a part of defending his homeworld. He didn't like putting the fate of his world in the hands of others so he was glad that he had ground troops participating in the battle.

The fleet had been sitting idly in dock since the initial invasion by the Zarasians but they were preparing to move out again with the Zarasian fighters eliminated. Once they had been restocked and refuelled they would depart and take up position around the capital once again.

A knock at the door roused him from his musings.

"Enter," he said.

The door to his office opened and his second in command walked in, flanked by three stone faced soldiers and a little while later his aide.

"Sir, we have recovered some of the debris from the landing craft we shot down," the second in command said in a strangely monotone voice. "I thought you should see it."

Two of the soldiers stepped forwards and placed two metallic spheres on the desk while the third closed the heavy metal door.

"Strange," Kavier noted as he rose to his feet and moved around the desk to study them closer. "But why did you bring these to me?"

"I thought you should see them sir," his second in command repeated.

"I came to tell you that the fleet command staff are standing by for your briefing sir," the aide added.

Kavier turned round to stare at the aide.

"What briefing?" he asked, frowning.

"Commander Navin told me to arrange a meeting of the fleet command staff sir," the aide said nervously. "On your order sir."

Kavier turned his gaze on his second in command. "I gave no such order."

"I was saving you the trouble sir," Navin replied.

"I have no intention of giving such an order," Kavier replied.

"Not yet sir," Navin said emotionlessly. "But you will."

"Si…sir!" his aide spluttered, pointing towards the desk.

Unnoticed on the desk the two spheres had been uncurling to take the shape of large metallic centipedes, supported by needle like legs. On the top of their now exposed heads there was a single glowing, blood red light and two metallic tendrils.

Kavier drew his side arm and aimed at one of the things but before he could shoot his head was slammed down onto the desk and his gun wrenched from his fingers. As he struggled to break free of the vice like grip he turned his head and realised that it was two of his own soldiers holding him down. The third soldier had his aide in a bone crunching bear hug, preventing him from helping or fleeing. Meanwhile Navin, his trusted second in command, just stood there and watched without a flicker of emotion on his face.

"You will not be killed," Navin assured him. "Our directives require the preservation of life where possible."

"What are you doing you traitor?" Kavier demanded angrily but Navin seemed to have no more to say.

Navin stepped forward and picked up on the centipedes while the other hand pulled down the back of Kavier's shirt collar. Kavier struggled all the harder when he realised that Navin was lowering the metallic centipede to the back of his neck but try as he might he could not get free. He involuntarily shivered as he felt the thing moving down his back, the cold metal brushing against the nubs of his spine. Even though he could directly not see what was happening his imagination, fuelled by what he was feeling, painted a chilling picture. The centipede was being laid along his spine, the long legs clamping around his ribs and the head, and by the ancestors those tendrils, was being placed on the back of his neck. As the legs locked into place around his ribs he felt a sudden pain in the back of his neck, two stabbing points that seemed to go all the way through his spine. As it happens they did. The two tendrils had pierced his skin and forced their way through the ridged of his spinal column, tapping directly into the brain stem. As this happened Kavier's whole body slumped as his brains control of his body was severed.

As his body rose from the desk he found himself a mere puppet, his bodily functions under the control of another. He was still conscious and could see and hear everything going on around him but that was all. He was trapped, trapped inside his own body, unable to vocalise his fear, his rage or his despair. He could only watch and listen as something moved his body, spoke with his voice and remember everything that followed.

He saw how his body attended the meeting with the meeting with the fleet command staff and spoke with words that were not his own. How one by one the individual airship command staff were escorted into a private briefing chamber by a handful of guards and then shown the interesting pieces of debris from the Zarasian landing craft. He could only watch in horror and listen to their terrified screams and shouts of protest as they were restrained while one of those things attached itself to the back of their necks. After that they would scream no more. Like him they had become puppets, dancers to someone unseen persons tune. In the confines of their heads he imagined that, like him, they were screaming, crying and pleading for it to end. Death would be welcome over this.

The worse part was how quiet he and the others like him were. The thing controlling him didn't seem to need to interact with the others of its kind. They all seemed to know what to do next, when to do it and what needed to be done by some unspoken agreement. Just knowing what this enemy that held captive in his own body was planning would have given him some respite but he was denied even that.

He quickly learned to spot those that were like him. The stone faced ones who didn't seem to talk, or when they did talk it was in a flat voice devoid of emotion. Just like Navin had been when he had spoken to him. He realised he should have noticed sooner but that was what made these things so dangerous. They hid behind the mask of military professionalism until it was time to strike.

As his body walked away from the main hanger, past the departing airships, he realised that the time to strike, the time they would really strike, was getting closer and closer. He just prayed to the ancestors he was either dead or freed before he could see it happen, because he had no doubt that it would mean the end of his world when it did.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

"Tell me Azamoth," Zarin said. "How are things progressing?"

"Things are progressing well," Azamoth said gleefully. "Soon Etere you will have the results of the combat tests for the new models."

"And your puppets?" Zarin asked. "I trust the strings are all in place by now."

"Soon all the key pieces will be under my, our, control," Azamoth assured him. "Most of the strings are in position and the final few will be soon. Their military is already ours and their leadership will soon follow."

"Very good," Zarin said. "With the locals under my control I can force our enemies to leave this world or suffer the consequences. Remember though Azamoth preservation of life is key here or the punishment will be dire."

"Of course Etere, of course," Azamoth said. "The strings are following their directives to the letter in that regard. So far no civilian casualties have been sustained."

"I'm glad to here it, and you should be ready for when the Doom Bringer departs to claim this world."

"You intend to send the _Doom Bringer_ itself Etere?" Azamoth asked, surprised.

"I do," Zarin confirmed. "Our enemies will know fear at what we are capable of unleashing upon them should they continue to stand against us. Hopefully it will make them easier to deal with and they will realise that the death of the Wraith and uniting the galaxy under one banner is a more favourable alternative."

"Of course Etere, of course," Azamoth said.

"Now how does your other project progress?" Zarin asked. "You have requested to oversee the final stages personally."

"Yes Etere," Azamoth confirmed. "Generating a successful combination of reaper and various reptiles DNA was difficult but I believe we have almost reached the optimal level of capabilities. I would like to personally test the prototype and from there oversee the implementation of mass production and modification."

"I do not like having you away from the _Doom Bringer_ Azamoth," Zarin pointed out. "You are far too valuable an asset to risk."

"I understand your concern Etere," Azamoth said. "However this research base is one of more recent creations and has the latest defence technology. With no ships in the vicinity it makes the likelihood of our enemies tracking it down remote and the indigenous wildlife makes visits rare and very brief."

"Very well," Zarin said. "But I want regular updates on your progress and your latest designs for consideration."

"Of course Etere, and thank you."

"I reward loyalty Azamoth," Zarin replied. "And you have proven to be a very loyal asset to me over the centuries, and especially a useful one. Your creations are masterpieces."

"But of course Etere," Azamoth said. "I am after all the product of my work."

* * *

**Calium Hydrogen Production Facility**

The time had finally come. The shield domes had finally extended over the defence line and the reapers were in range to use their weapons. Bolt after bolt of plasma pounded the defence line while the return fire was none existent. The defenders stayed low in their bunkers and trenches, waiting for the best time to strike. Thor was being patient. So far the reapers were being hesitant, holding back instead of making a charge for the defence line. He was waiting for them to get closer. Slowly the shield domes inched forwards to cover the entire defence line, with only the Abrams and Titans left outside.

The reapers were now only a short sprint away from the defence line. Thor knew he had to strike now or the advantage would be lost. Wait too long and the reapers would be in the trenches already, but strike too soon and they would not be able to bring their maximum firepower to bear because of the shield domes. It was now or never.

"Attack," Thor ordered.

As one the CCTs and HWTs jumped into the air in a high arc, touching down inside the dome shield on the other side of the reaper army before opening up with everything they had. In the trenches Calium and Tau'ri soldiers stood up and started firing their personal weapons. Behind them Abrams tanks and LRTs moved forward so that they were inside the shield dome and unleashed their own monstrous weapons. The reaper army found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. Although in this case it was quite hard to tell which was supposed to be which since no matter how you looked at it both of them were beating the crap out of the reaper army. Someone in charge though clearly saw that the situation wouldn't be improved by just sitting their and taking it. The reaper army quickly advanced closer and closer to the trench line.

Calium and Tau'ri soldiers desperately tried to fend off the mass charge of vehicles and reapers. Plasma bolts, railgun rounds and bullets brought down thousands of reapers while hundreds of tanks were shattered by the defending armoured units but more were still coming. Soon the reapers made it right up to the trench line with the massive hulk reapers tearing a bloody path through the defence line. Thor saw all of this and urged his Titans forwards. Catching the reapers in a cross fire had been effective but it looked like they would now have to resort to a hammer and anvil strategy. It would have been nice though if the anvil was an actual barricade rather than a trench line, although the bunkers were giving the reapers quite some difficulty.

The Titans continued to carve their way through the rear of the reaper army while their counterparts on the defence line obliterated vehicles. The four floating cylinders felt the full wrath of the LRTs high powered plasma beams, their shields holding for a brief moment before they were finally destroyed. As they detonated they created massive craters in the area that killed dozens of reapers with fire and shards of debris. Thor hoped that would mean the reapers command structure would have been shattered and they could finally deal a decisive blow that would end this battle quickly. With their commanders dead the surviving forces would be disorganised and easy to overwhelm.

Apparently though it wasn't to be. The tank groups focused their fire on individual targets, destroying several of the Titans outright while the Abrams were taking a pounding but hanging on thanks to their slightly stronger shields. The reapers meanwhile were charging into the trench lines in co-ordinated groups, identifying the weakest areas of the line and moving straight for them. As it happens that was the area of the line defended by the Calium soldiers, with their weaker troops and inferior firepower. They were simply far softer targets with less effective weapons which made them ideal targets for pushing into the line. The reapers came down on them like a storm, overwhelming resistance with sheer weight of numbers.

Eventually they were in the trenches and then the hulks came into play. They carried massive minigun like weapons that spat out torrents of plasma, mowing down Calium soldiers as they advanced deeper and deeper into the trenches. There were forty eight of these things moving through the trenches and cutting down anything that got in their way. Some soldiers were brave enough to ambush the hulks but their bullets simply bounced off the thick trinium armour they were clad in.

"All ground troops pull back," Thor ordered.

There was no point prolonging this until they could come bring in a viable countermeasure to those hulks and that was the Titans. Or alternatively the obvious countermeasure was simple sheer overkill. Either way the best move in this case was simply pulling the soldiers back. At multiple points along the defence line there were concrete bunkers which separated sections of the trenches. Those were stall points where they could hold the reapers back until they could deal with the situation properly. In those bunkers the Calium soldiers could use the larger guns they had set up and the concrete would off protection against the plasma bolts. The Tau'ri solders were performing coral duty, moving into the thick of the fight where the reaper forces were strongest and holding them at bay. This allowed the rest of the Calium forces to perform mop up duty of the much smaller broken and scattered pockets of reaper survivors. All the while the armour of both sides fought with one another, neither side letting up an inch. The intense fight between them meant that the vehicles couldn't support the ground forces because they were too pre-occupied with each other.

"All forces have pulled back sir. Trench lines are clear," a voice reported.

Knowing that friendly forces had pulled out of the trench line occupied by reaper forces Thor took a moment to assess the situation. The bunkers were not offering as much of an obstacle for the reapers as he had hoped, while they had been designed to defend against an attack they were not meant to hold off against one from inside the trenches. Once the reapers pushed past a certain point the protection the bunkers offered became none existent as the open doorways allowed easy shots straight into the bunker. Of course that was only if the reapers were planning on going easy on the defending forces, instead they opted to throw in thermal grenades that obliterated the bunker occupants. By the time his group of Titans made it past the rest of the army they were up against they would have pushed deeper and deeper into the trenches and caused thousands of losses for the defenders. He was right in the thick of the action, tearing through reapers and vehicles like a lawnmower cutting through the grass but he still couldn't get there in time. He had no other alternative.

"Target NPDs," he ordered.

"Yes sir."

The LRTs immediately turned their attention to the trench lines, ignoring the enemy tanks for now. Thor took a brief moment to note how those vehicles and their mobile shield domes had made all the difference in this battle. Without them the reaper army would have been all but annihilated by the allied forces alone before they were able to even get close to their lines. Instead the reapers had been all but on top of them before they could be engaged properly. Clearly a countermeasure was needed. Perhaps multiple targeted bursts from plasma beams would do the trick. However that was a question for later.

"All units report target lock sir."

"Open fire," Thor ordered.

From their housings on the LRTs shoulders NPDs which had so far gone unused in this battle were finally brought into play against the enemy. As they left missile pod housings they swerved upwards into the sky, gaining altitude, before nose diving back down to the ground. The explosion generated by the combination of liquid naquadah and potassium was so powerful that they had to be fired at the centre of the trench line sections to prevent friendly casualties. Across the defence line miniature suns burned briefly as the reapers were engulfed by the explosions. Hulks roared as they were consumed by fire, their partly Wraith physiology allowing them to hold on until the power packs they carried on their backs detonated and finished them off.

Turning back to the rest of the battle Thor organised the disposal of the remaining reaper troops while the last of the tanks were finished off. He personally saw to mopping up some of the last of the troops, his Titan suit slicing through them with ease.

And finally it was over. The last of the reapers were dead. The tanks had all been destroyed. Even the shield generator vehicles had been destroyed, which had allowed the Titans to pull back and pepper the hold out forces with firefly rockets and artillery rounds.

Now the allied forces were withdrawing from the battlefield, their troops and vehicles being brought back to the ships for maintenance and medical attention. In orbit of the planet the _Nightingale_ finally decloaked and started beaming up the wounded. Injuries had been light for the allies, with their superior armour protecting them. The Calium people however were not so lucky. They had lost a lot of good people as a price for defending their homeworld from invaders. Still with the technology and medical training that the Tau'ri vessels and doctors had at their disposal a large number that would otherwise have perished would be saved.

This victory had been costly certainly but it was a victory none the less. The Zarasian invasion force had been annihilated by the local and allied forces. As a result Zarin would not be able to place troops on this world until he got past the large and extremely powerful fleet in orbit, something that would not be an easy task to achieve. At least that's what Thor and the other allies thought anyway. They never imagined that it would be possible with a single ship.

* * *

**Calium Capital City**

Around the city numerous warships of the Calium air fleet were taking up position. They were forming a defensive screen around the city, supposedly to protect it from any who might attack it. At least that is what the locals and the allies thought. They were unaware that the command crews of those vessels had been turned into puppets under complete control of the string robots clamped to their backs. The crews of the ships followed the orders of the command crews. If they were told to adjust the guns to a certain angle and then fire a round they would do so. They wouldn't know until later what the target fired at had been. Likewise those manning the smaller defensive guns would be told to fire at a craft of a certain shape. They had never seen the enemy fighters before so why would they know the difference between the Tau'ri 302s and the Zarasian fighter craft. It didn't help that Commander Kavier, under the control of his string, had quite recently requested that the UAVs be pulled away from the city now that the last of the Zarasian fighters had been dealt with.

The crews of these vessels, both large and small, simply followed orders as they were given. When a stream of arrow shaped fighters began descending from the sky, followed by the wide winged UAVs the crews were given their orders. The airships, along with the guns on the surface began to fire on the UAVs allowing large groups of fighters to make it to the ground and deploy soldiers. Drop pods rained down from the sky but the defence guns remained silent, under orders from on high. Following the fighters were larger ships, the mobile deployment platforms touched down on the outskirts of the city and began to spit out vehicles. Tanks rolled into the streets of the city and local defence forces that had been confined to barracks, once again because of orders from on high, were powerless to stop them. Hordes of tanks, hulks and basic reaper soldiers poured into the streets to almost no resistance. Panic gripped the locals as these strange creatures appeared in their midst without warning. They didn't know that a similar scene was playing out on the planets surface in the grounds of the hydrogen production facility.

* * *

Moments ago, in the space around the planet, a single massive hyperspace window had opened and deposited an arrow shaped ship, sporting Zarasian markings, so large it blocked out the sun. At twenty kilometres long this was by far the biggest Zarasian ship that the allies had ever seen. The power readings the thing was generating made the allied fleets tiny by comparison. This one ship was capable of wiping out the present allied fleet without breaking a sweat. There was no question of fighting it. There was no chance of victory with what they had. Nothing in their current arsenal was capable of bringing down the shields on that thing, shields which were fifty times more powerful than even an O'Neill class warship. This was a ship that you could only feel fear if you knew it was against you.

The massive ship, the _Doom Bringer_, launched tens of thousands of fighters and hundreds of drop pods and mobile deployment platforms. As a massive swarm they descended on Calium, ignoring the fleet defending her, and heading straight for the planet.

On the bridge of the _Doom Bringer_ Zarin smiled as his plans came to fruition.

* * *

Unseen in space, three energy beings watched the appearance of the _Doom Bringer_.

"So he finally decided to show himself," Janus said. "Let's end this."

Together Janus, Oma and Morgan flew straight for the bridge of the _Doom Bringer_, intending to bring Zarin down once and for all. Shields, hull armour, bulkheads, they all meant nothing to the three ascended. In an instant they were on the bridge and saw Zarin sitting smugly in his command chair. Together they gathered up their power and unleashed a blast of power that would deal a mortal blow to the target, and the target was Zarin.

* * *

**Please Review. **


	68. What Lies Hidden in the Shadows

**Happy New Year everyone. Hope you all enjoy the first chapter of 2013. I wonder how many of you remember what the title means? **

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_**

Just as the combined and unseen power of Janus, Oma and Morgan was about to strike Zarin a glowing being appeared and took on the shape of a man, Vejovis. With a wave of his hand the blast was blocked and scattered, spreading outwards in a gentle and harmless wave.

"I will not allow you to interfere," Vejovis stated, his expression neutral.

"You can't stop us," Janus said confidently, gathering his power for another strike.

"Wrong," Vejovis replied before snapping his fingers.

A blast of power erupted outwards, sending the three of them flying backwards. In their energy forms they were sent flung so far backwards they were outside the ship before they were able to stop themselves.

"That shouldn't have happened," Morgan said, shocked.

"No it shouldn't," Oma agreed.

"Well it won't happen again," Janus said, charging back towards the _Doom Bringer_.

"Wrong," Vejovis repeated, appearing in front of him an instant.

Before Janus even knew what was happening he found himself flung backwards. Still in his humanoid form he got back to his feet, his expression now twisted in anger.

"Scatter," Janus yelled to the others. "He can't cover all the angles."

Oma and Morgan nodded before separating. Together with Janus the three of them went for the Doom Bringer at completely different angles. Vejovis was just one alone and he couldn't stop them all by himself. At least that was what they believed.

"Wrong," Vejovis repeated.

In an instant Vejovis zipped between the three of them, appearing in front of them for the briefest instant which was just long enough to strike them with a powerful blow that sent them flying backwards once again.

As they landed together in a tangle of limbs the three ascended tiredly pulled apart and achingly stood up. So far Vejovis had not used lethal force but that was purely by choice. Just by stopping them from even getting close to the Doom Bringer he had shown how powerful he was. Vejovis suddenly appeared in front of them, his expression calm and collected.

"Do you ever get tired of being wrong?" he asked casually.

"How are you so strong?" Janus demanded.

Vejovis didn't even seem to be winded by what he had just accomplished.

"I am because I must be," Vejovis replied.

Janus scowled at the answer that told him nothing.

"Together," he said, gathering the full force of his power. "We need to get past him if we're going to end this."

"I would advise against it," Vejovis said.

"Janus," Oma said warningly.

"He's right Oma," Morgan said, gathering the full force of her own power. "He can't stop us all."

"Actually I can," Vejovis said.

Oma sighed and gathered up her own power. Together the three of them let loose the majority of their collective power in a single strike. Vejovis grimaced as the blast struck him and he struggled to resist it. As he blocked the intense wave of power his form momentarily flickered and changed, becoming covered in glowing white lightning that zipped across him. When the flow of power finally ended Vejovis still stood there, with only a few lighting bolts zipping around his body.

Janus and Oma could only stare in surprise. He had just taken the full force of their power head on and had come out completely unharmed. If anything they were sensing that he was even stronger than before, which didn't make any sense. In fact nothing about this situation made any sense. Vejovis had been giving off the same impression of power as any other ascended being that wasn't receiving a boost from mortal worshippers like the Ori had been. But Vejovis had displaying abilities that far exceeded those of a normal ascended being and now, instead of being weakened like a normal person, he appeared to be even stronger. In fact a moment ago, when he had been taking the full force of their power, he had appeared to be powerful beyond belief.

If Janus and Oma's expressions were that of surprise though then Morgan's was of absolute shock.

"Adria," she whispered without thinking before shaking herself. "We need to get out of here."

"How are you so powerful?" Janus asked.

"More to the point why did you seem to be even stronger a moment ago?" Oma asked.

"So you saw," Vejovis said, seeming saddened. "I suppose I only have myself to blame. Your combined power momentarily distracted me from maintaining this illusion. Well then I guess there is no need to maintain this illusion any longer."

Vejovis closed his eyes and his expression softened as he relaxed. His entire body was covered by those zipping white lightning bolts, each one crackling with incredible raw power. The power level he was generating was extreme, easily more powerful than a hundred ascended beings. Nothing even close to that level of power should be possible for an ascended being to naturally achieve.

"A riddle for you all," Vejovis said calmly. "How does someone become stronger without changing themselves in any way?"

"We need to go!" Morgan insisted.

"You should listen to Ganos," Vejovis advised.

"Vejovis can't you see this war has to end here or countless lives will be lost?" Janus pleaded. "We can end it, here now, without the need for untold death and destruction."

"I know," Vejovis said. "But I cannot allow you to interfere. This is the way it must be."

"What happened to you Vejovis?" Janus asked. "You were known as a great healer amongst our people. You were the one who encouraged the council to allow me to build the attero device and made sure it was turned off when we learned of the cost. Why will you allow this to continue?"

"Because it should happen," Vejovis said.

"Not if I can help it," Janus said.

"You can't get past me," Vejovis said.

"I can try!"

"No you won't," Morgan said, moving in front of him. "He could kill you with a single blow."

"Then at least I'll die knowing I tried to stop this," Janus said. "You were willing to risk everything once Morgan, you too Oma, now it's my turn."

"No, not this time Janus," Oma said. "We're leaving."

Together the two of them pulled Janus away, who didn't have the strength left to resist. He had used all his strength against Vejovis and apparently it had all been for nought.

"I see that some of you have some common sense," Vejovis observed.

"You've fallen so far Vejovis," Morgan said. "I know what you've done."

"If you truly know what I've done then you'll know that it is useless to stand against me," Vejovis replied. "Zarin will finish what he has started. This galaxy will be unified by the Zarasian Empire and the Wraith wiped out. I will make sure of that."

"Not if the Alliance of Great Races has anything to say about it," Oma replied.

"I think the little display seen here shows that they cannot," Vejovis replied.

* * *

When they were far enough away they finally let him go.

"Why did you do that?" Janus demanded. "We could have ended the war right then and there."

"No we couldn't have," Oma said. "He was far too powerful."

"We still should have tried," Janus insisted.

"We did try," Oma said. "We failed."

"So we'll try again," Janus said. "We'll try again until we succeed."

"We can't Janus, it's impossible for us to beat a being as strong as him," Morgan said.

"So we'll find a way to stronger," Janus argued. "Vejovis did it so we can too."

Morgan sighed. "No we can't. I know how he got to be so strong. I've faced a being like him before."

"How? Who? When? Tell me!" Janus demanded grabbing her by the shoulders.

Morgan squirmed, fighting against Janus' grip but she couldn't get loose. "Adria! It was Adria!"

Janus let go of her, his whole body visibly slumping. "It can't be. He…he wouldn't go over to the Ori. Not for the sake of gaining power."

"I don't think he did," Morgan said. "But I do believe he used the same method as them to gain power."

"It would explain it certainly but I still can't believe it," Janus said, dumbfounded.

"Even the greatest of us can fall," Oma said. "The higher we rise, the further we have to fall."

"But surely not him," Janus said. "Not Vejovis."

"He suffered greatly because of the Wraith," Oma reasoned. "After losing his entire family, he may not be the same person we once knew. Loss changes a person greatly."

"So what do we do now?" Janus asked.

"If he is drawing power from his followers then he must have them hidden somewhere in this galaxy," Morgan reasoned. "The others would know about it otherwise and would have put a stop to it long ago if it was in our new home."

"So what do you suggest?" Janus asked. "We find his base and destroy it?"

"No," Morgan said. "We find it, tell the Alliance where it is and they destroy it. Without the constant supply of energy Vejovis will just be one of us again. He won't be able to stop us just like Adria wasn't able to stop me."

"It's our only option," Oma said.

Janus looked at her curiously. "So you don't want to just let the lower plains sort out their own problems then Oma?"

"Not this time," Oma said.

"Then it's agreed?" Morgan asked.

"Yes," Janus said.

"Come on then," Morgan said. "I have some ideas on where to find the information we need."

* * *

**Calium**

John Sheppard sat in his command chair on the bridge of the _Weir_. He couldn't believe the reports he was getting from the surface or what his eyes were telling him. In front of him was a twenty kilometre long monster ship sporting Zarasian markings and launching thousands upon thousands of fighters. Worse still drop pods and vehicle deployment craft were raining down on Calium only to land on inhabited rock on the planet or in the sky. There were tens of thousands of reaper life signs detected on the planet and the number just kept on increasing. Even worse than that was the fact that their guns were proving highly ineffective at even slowing them down, for every one they shot down there were ten more making it to the ground and the locals were helping them get there!

Dozens of UAVs which had moved to intercept the fighters and drop pods had been shot down, but not by the Zarasians but by the local defence emplacements. The people they had been fighting alongside not an hour ago had turned against them for seemingly no reason. He could only count himself lucky that his ground forces were safely tucked away onboard their ships. UAVs, after all, could be rebuilt fairly easily, but lives once lost could not. If that monster of a ship opened fire though then were all finished. The power readings were enough to make even the Asgard show fear.

"Sir I have Commander Kavier on the line."

About time, Sheppard thought.

"Kavier what the hell is going on?" Sheppard demanded. "Your forces are shooting at our birds."

"You are no longer welcome on this planet," Kavier replied. The voice was certainly his, but something about it didn't sound right. "Leave now or be destroyed."

"The Zarasians are landing troops all over your planet," Sheppard said angrily. "My sensors tell me they have millions to deploy from that massive ship of theirs. How can you just let this happen?"

"The Zarasians are welcome here. You are not."

"We lost the transmission sir."

"Damn it."

"Sir we have an incoming transmission…from the Zarasian ship."

"Put it on," Sheppard said.

"Colonel Sheppard," Zarin said. "How nice to see you again."

"Zarin," Sheppard said. "I should have known you would be the one commanding a monster like that."

"Ah yes the Doom Bringer," Zarin said politely. "Isn't she wonderful? Very much an improvement over my last flagship from so long ago, but of course you know that by now. Compared to this one my former flagship was nothing. This ship is, after all, capable of subjugating an entire planet by itself, and wiping out a fleet that might try to defend it. I suggest you leave if you want to live. This planet is mine now."

"Not yet it isn't," Sheppard replied angrily.

"Oh I beg to differ Colonel," Zarin said smugly. "By now you are aware that the locals have embraced our presence with open arms and in any case I already have tens of thousands of troops on the ground, with many more to come if I see fit. What do you have? A small force of soldiers that will never make it to the ground before the fleet of ships they reside upon is obliterated."

"You don't scare me Zarin," Sheppard said.

"Or me," Thor said, his own image appearing on the screen.

"Ah Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard fleet," Zarin said. "I understand it is you I have to thank for that defeat on Celestia. It is of no consequence, I can always try again later."

"You will fail then too," Thor stated.

"You think so?" Zarin asked. "Yes you do don't you. You don't fear me or the power I wield, but you really should you know. Of course they say that seeing is believing so why don't you witness the power of my main weapon? At thirty percent of course."

"Enemy ship is powering weapons!"

From the tip of the _Doom Bringer_ an orb of green light began to form before a beam of green plasma discharged and struck the _O'Neill_. The shields of the Asgard flagship held against the onslaught, for a little while anyway, before shattering just as the stream of energy stopped.

"The _O'Neill_ has lost shields!"

That shot had been perfectly calibrated. Not a single spark of energy had been wasted, using just enough to bring down the shields of the Asgard warship and no more. And if what Zarin said was to be believed, and they had no reason to believe it wasn't then that weapon was only at thirty percent power! What that thing could do if fully charged was like comparing an ordinary plasma beam to the Grodin!

"Do you see now Supreme Commander?" Zarin asked smugly. "You cannot hope to win. Go now and tell others what it means to stand against me. This time I will let you leave unharmed, but next time you will either submit to me or you will die."

"All forces retreat," Sheppard ordered reluctantly.

There was no way they could fight against that thing.

"A wise decision," Zarin said. "Until next time Colonel, and you too Supreme Commander."

* * *

**Atlantis**

The three ascended retook human shape in one of the seldom used labs of their former home.

"Why here?" Janus asked.

"Because I need to access the database and this is easier than going onto the Weir," Morgan replied working at a console. "No pesky AI's to notice what we are doing here."

"What are we doing exactly?" Oma asked.

"Accessing the list of off world bases that were constructed before and during the war with the Wraith," Morgan replied.

She frowned. "However the list is in a secure section of the database and I can't seem to access it."

"Allow me," Janus said, stepping up to the console.

After tapping away for a few moments the console beeped and Morgan found she had full access.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

Janus smiled at her. "Do you really think I was able to construct a hidden lab here without full access to the cities mainframe? How else do you think I was able to remove that sections existence from the computer records and adjust the supply inventory lists so that nothing appeared to be missing?"

"Sneaky isn't he," Oma noted.

"I prefer cunning," Janus replied.

"I prefer you help me," Morgan said, as a various windows flashed open on the screen in front of her.

"Let's see now," Janus said, as he accessed the hidden database. "What have you been hiding Vejovis?"

For what could have been hours the two of them worked there way through the various records while Oma watched on, completely absorbed in their work.

"Strange," Janus said. "There is nothing here to indicate supplies being funnelled to a new location for the construction of a base. Small amounts were requested by Vejovis but nothing out of the ordinary, some laboratory equipment but nothing in the way of building materials."

"Maybe nothing about Vejovis," Morgan said. "But look at this. The report of the destruction of a remote scientific outpost by self destruction after it was abandoned and stripped of anything useful."

"Who submitted the report?" Oma asked.

"Cura," Morgan said.

"Ah the great seeder of life," Janus said nostalgically. "Still I hardly see the connection."

"There was a similar report," Morgan explained. "One where she details the abandonment of another remote outpost and that it was destroyed."

"So what?" Janus asked, still not seeing the connection.

"The world was supposed to be down for human relocation but apparently they all died," Morgan said. "The base was constructed inside a mountain to hide it from the locals. Guess what that planet is called now though?"

"Averia," Janus said as realisation hit him.

"Exactly," Morgan said.

Janus groaned. "I knew I should have checked out that base."

"We know that Vejovis and Cura had strong professional ties," Oma said. "You think he might have helped her?"

"Why not?" Janus asked. "They held much of the same beliefs. Plus according to this the two of them were both requesting supplies but there is no indication of where they were going. Separately they seem inconsequential but put the two lists together."

"And you get a list of supplies that could make two outposts self sufficient," Morgan finished.

"Or one outpost self sufficient and the other remaining intact," Janus said.

"That still isn't proof of a connection between them," Oma argued.

"No but this is," Janus said. "You remember how Eurielle said she was captured on that planet. Well I remember a battle where a Wraith hive was downed and the insides searched for survivors. Now this report says that the drones and elites were all killed, with a couple taken for study. But the queen supposedly died from wounds sustained by impact. Now whose name is on that medical report?"

"Vejovis," Oma said. "So that must have been Eurielle."

"Right under our noses the whole time," Janus said.

"We still have to scout out that outpost," Oma said. "It's right in the middle of believed Zarasian territory so we can't just ask them to check it out on a hunch. Besides this will be classed as interference so we'll only get one shot."

"We'll confirm its presence then we'll tell them," Morgan said.

"You realise what this means though," Janus said. "Cura could be a part of this as well."

"Except no one has seen Cura for as long as no one has seen Vejovis," Oma pointed out.

"No and if those two are sharing power then we could have twice as much of a headache to deal with," Morgan agreed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Janus said.

* * *

**SPECTRE transport shuttle**

"Does anyone else feel like our talents are being underutilised lately?" Sovaer asked, slouching in his seat.

The others were tempted to sigh or make some sound of complaint but in all honesty they couldn't really disagree with him. They were being sent on a scouting mission to a system that could have a Zarasian presence, or possibly a human civilisation. All they knew was that no one knew much about the planet in question. The planet did have a stargate but it was a space gate, which meant that travellers from other worlds never came there. The only reason that they were being dispatched to this planet was because it was believed to be on the outskirts of or potentially in, since no one actually knew for sure where the borders were, Zarasian territory. The entire fleet was busy dealing with an active hot zone, namely Calium, and as a result was unavailable for this mission which was why the SPECTREs were being deployed.

"Remind me why they couldn't deploy a recon drone through the gate?" Sovaer asked a little while later.

"Because a recon drone would be detected and wouldn't necessarily get through in any case if the gate is defended," Todd replied. "Either way the Zarasians, if they have a presence there would know we are coming. We can scout out the planet without being detected."

"Makes sense," Sovaer agreed.

"Your boredom will be over soon," Teyla said. "We're about to arrive."

Sovaer sprang to his feet, his body moving like a gymnast. "Time to work."

The others chuckled. The man was never more alive than when he was on a mission.

The specialised transport shuttle exited hyperspace over a green world.

"Oh look its green," Sovaer noted. "These worlds are always green."

"Of course," Eir said. "It has a stargate after all."

"Yeah but not all these planets need to be green," Sovaer said. "It wouldn't be so bad for there to be a little variety."

"He's got a point," Ronon said.

"Perhaps you would prefer a world filled with ice," Todd said.

"Or maybe a desert world," Teyla said.

"Green it is then," Sovaer said. "Anything down there?"

"Sensors are detecting life signs," Todd reported from his pilot seat.

"We are cloaked right?" Sovaer asked.

Todd snorted. "Of course."

"Ok then," Sovaer said. "We go down and investigate."

With that he went off to don his armour and arm himself while Todd landed the ship.

"How exactly did he get to be in charge again?" Todd asked.

The other SPECTREs took a moment to think but none of them could think of an exact answer.

"He just seems to have this ability to get other people to follow without him actually claiming that he has any authority." Teyla summarised.

Jason nodded and made a sound of agreement.

"I really can't argue with that," Eir said.

"Me neither," Todd said. "That is what is so troubling."

"At least we know that if any of us is likely to get hurt it's him," Ronon said.

"I heard that," Sovaer said from down the corridor.

* * *

The transport shuttle, still cloaked, landed a good distance from a village they had found on sensors. The village was surrounded by a twisting and fast flowing river, with only a single crossing, and beyond it was an extensive forest that went on for miles in all directions. This small island was expansive enough though to hold fields for growing wheat and vegetables and presumably the river held fish. The village wasn't very big but it filled the island with its structures and fields. They hadn't been able to find a place to land the large transport ship on the island so they had been forced to land it on the outskirts between the forest edge and the river.

Stealth was deemed to be the best choice here since they didn't know the lay of the land. They would go in under cloak, investigate the village for any signs of Zarasian presence and then move out again and perform a meet visibly if there were none.

Using the servo motors in their suits to enhance their movements the six SPECTREs vaulted across the river, landing with a thud on the other side of the bank.

"ISIS keep an eye on sensors and let us know if you detect anything unfriendly heading our way," Sovaer instructed. "Oh and be sure not to show yourself in holographic form. No need to spook the locals."

"Of course," ISIS replied.

"Time to investigate," Sovaer said as the group split up to cover more ground. "And remember that stealth is most important here."

"Says the man who failed that training exercise by tripping over a box and setting off the motion sensors and the entire laser grid," Todd said, causing the others to laugh as they remembered that particular training exercise.

"I was still getting used to this new leg," Sovaer argued.

"And it was funny," Ronon added.

"Thanks for the support."

"Have you found anything?" Teyla asked, ending the conversation. "I haven't."

"Nothing," Sovaer said. "Not even an active light bulb."

"Nothing here either," Eir said.

"Nothing," Jason stated.

"Or here," Ronon said.

"Or here," Todd finished. "It seems like this village isn't a part of the Zarasian Empire."

"Or if it is then Zarin hasn't decided to assimilate the locals yet," Sovaer concluded.

"Unlikely though," Todd said. "Zarin would have placed some defences to protect his claims."

"True," Sovaer admitted. "Okay then we go back and make a public entrance."

In a little while they had all gathered together, uncloaked and were waiting for the right moment to emerge from the forest. They were waiting for one of the locals to appear on the outskirts of the village so that they would be seen when they visibly emerged from the forest and jumped across the river. Given her more than a little intimidating appearance Eir would be remaining at the back of the group. Todd and Jason would also keep their visors polarized while the humans did the talking. Eventually a man appeared to tend to the nearby fields.

"Time to go," Sovaer said.

The six of them walked slowly out of the trees and it wasn't long before their presence was noted. As one they ran forwards and easily leapt over the wide river. Sovaer smirked behind his polarized visor as he noted the shocked look on the farmers face. As they stood and approached at a leisurely pace the farmer raised his hoe defensively.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

Sovaer stepped forwards and revealed his face. "Travellers from distant worlds."

"If you are from another world then how did you get here?"

"By ship," Sovaer replied.

"And where is your ship?"

"Not far from here."

"What do you want?"

"To be friends," Teyla said, revealing her own face. "We mean you know harm."

"They why do dress like that and carry those weapons?" the man asked.

"For protection," Ronon said, revealing his face.

"Fair enough," the man conceded. "Are you all human?"

"What makes you ask that?" Sovaer asked.

The man pointed at Eir like it was obvious.

"This body is a robot," Eir explained. "It houses my consciousness. But to answer your question I am not human and neither are the two men standing beside me, but they choose not to show their faces so they will not alarm you."

"Why, what do they look like?"

"We'll show you later," Todd said while Jason nodded in agreement.

"So like I said," the man continued. "What do the people from other worlds want?"

"To make peaceful contact with your people," Sovaer said. "So it would be nice if we could meet with your leaders."

"The elder is in the village," the man explained. "Follow me. By the way you can call me Jose."

"Well that went well," Sovaer noted to the other SPECTREs on a private channel.

The six of them followed the man through the fields and into the village. As they walked people emerged to stare at the odd looking strangers, with Jose constantly repeating that they were visitors from another world and were here in peace. Eventually they made it into the centre of the village and by then quite a crowd had gathered around them. Men, women and children all flocked to get look at these newcomers. Eir was subjected to some very pointed looks, but that wasn't surprising given that her combat body made her look slightly demonic. Couple that with the very visible weaponry being carried by the SPECTREs and add in their battle armour and the villagers had seen fit to bring their own weapons with them. Spears, swords and various pointy farming tools could be seen in abundance. The villagers may be trusting but clearly they weren't naïve enough to simply take the SPECTREs at their word. Eventually the crowd parted in front of the largest of the cottages and an old man stepped towards. There was no doubt that he was an elder. He had long white hair and an equally long beard and supported himself with a tall wooden staff carved into the rough shape of a snake. He may be old but there was no mistaking the intelligence in the eyes that studied the new arrivals closely.

"Well, well," he said in a dry raspy voice. "Visitors from several worlds I hear. Alien too. Can't say I recall when we've ever had alien visitors from other worlds here and I am old so I should know."

He chuckled at his own joke before continuing. "How did you get here and what do you want?"

"By ship and to be friends," Sovaer answered.

"So you say, so you say," the elder said. "So how did you get on this island?"

"We came across the river," Sovaer replied.

"Is that so?" the old man asked. "Well maybe this old mind of mine is starting to go feeble as the rest of me but I seem to recall the crossing is in the opposite direction to the one you came. Jose?"

"They jumped across the river honoured elder," Jose answered quickly.

"You saw this yourself?"

"I did."

"Well now there's a thing. There is a thing indeed. I would have liked to see that myself."

Yes I bet you would have Sovaer thought.

"I can assure you that we come in peace," Sovaer said.

"And your weapons say otherwise," the old man replied. "And don't try to convince me they aren't. I'm old not daft. The Wraith have been to this world before see and so I know what a weapon looks like even if ours aren't as powerful."

The elder certainly knew what he was talking about. He said not as powerful but he certainly knew the weapons of the villagers could be effective, especially if you were surrounded. Still their armour should protect them, for a little while anyway.

"They are for our protection," Teyla said.

"I'm sure they are missy, but protection can mean stopping us from stopping you from taking what is ours."

"We have no interest in taking what is yours," Sovaer said. "We're happy with what is ours. We merely wish to make new friends."

"No I expect you don't," the old man agreed. "Our people are a simple lot compared to those that travel the stars. Though I must say I never expected to hear of people travelling the stars who weren't Wraith."

Todd and Jason suitably shifted comfortably and unfortunately the elder spotted it.

"You two show your faces," he demanded. "Now!"

Sovaer sighed. "Do it."

There were gasps and shouts as Todd and Jason revealed their faces and more than a few swords drawn.

"Now that is interesting isn't it," the old man said, in a voice turned dangerously low.

"ISIS prepare to…" Sovaer began to say before a shout caused him to pause.

"Elder! At the crossing, demon hounds!" a young man yelled as he ran to the elder.

"How many?" the elder demanded.

"Many, more than I could count."

"And how is the guardian fairing?"

"He is holding them off for now."

"Good then hopefully we won't have to interfere."

"ISIS what have you got?" Sovaer asked.

"Multiple life signs around the crossing and one on it," ISIS reported.

"Let us help," Sovaer said.

The elder scoffed. "The guardian will deal them but if you and those Wraith of yours want to get yourselves killed then so be it. I'll be glad to be rid of you."

"Let's go," Sovaer said as he started running towards the crossing, followed closely by the other SPECTREs. "ISIS, tell me something about what I'm running into here."

"Reading multiple life signs converging on the crossing, they appear to be animals of some kind. The one on the crossing is…confirming…confirmed, life signs register as a reaper."

"Double time!" Sovaer yelled.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	69. The Last Hulk

The six SPECTREs ran through the village at full speed, their armoured bodies appearing as blurs to the watching villagers. The villagers followed slowly behind since apparently they were in no rush to get there. The presence of a reaper though changed the attitudes of the SPECTREs. They were expecting this to be the prelude to an invasion by Zarasian forces. They were not expecting what they saw when they finally reached the crossing though.

Around the simple, yet sturdy, wooden bridge was a number of graves marked only by sticks in the ground. On the bridge itself a long figure was fighting off several massive wolves, each one the size of a small horse, while several more were on the opposite bank waiting to pounce. If the size of the wolves was what surprised the SPECTREs then the figure that was fighting them off, and winning for that matter, absolutely shocked them. It was a reaper, that much was obvious from the skin colour and the cybernetic eye piece, but it was also the biggest reaper they had ever seen since it was easily three meters tall. But this reaper was apparently defending the crossing from these wolves. There were even villagers cheering for the thing!

"So that's the guardian the elder was talking about," Teyla said.

"What is that thing?" Todd asked. "Surely it's too big to be a reaper."

"And I'm too big to be a human and Jason is too big to be a Wraith," Ronon said.

"He's got a point," Sovaer said. "Want to stay here and watch?"

The other SPECTREs admitted that they did. So they stayed there and watched this one man tank, which they would later learn was called a hulk, swiping aside anything that came close to him. Several of the wolves fell down to a burst from the hulks plasma mini gun while lone wolves succumbed to blasts from the weapons mounted on his arms. One lucky wolf managed to dodge the withering hails of firepower that felled its kin and leapt at the hulks throat. Just as it was about to land on the hulk it stopped in mid air, skewered by a glowing blade that sprang out from its housing on the reapers arm. As the wolf whimpered in agony the hulk casually flung it sideways over the side of the small bridge. It landed in the fast flowing currents of the river, travelling a short distance before washing up dead on the bank.

The remaining few wolves backed off after that. They were clearly intelligent enough to realise that they couldn't win this fight when so many had fallen. Once they left and were some distance away the hulk moved away from the bridge to a small hut that had been erected so that it had a clear view of the other bank.

As the hulk came closer they saw that its leathers were torn and tattered and it was covered in cuts that were still healing. The villagers were busy gathering and skinning the dead wolves. Some had even gotten a fire started and a roasting carcass was turning slowly on spit. After the reaper pulled off the power pack for the mini gun and gently placed it inside the hut it walked over the spit and ripped off a chunk of roasted meat, tearing into the food with its sharp teeth. One of the villagers brought over a large pitcher of water which the reaper snatched and downed in one go.

"Well this is surreal," Eir noted.

That was certainly saying something, normally the Asgard field medic wasn't fazed by anything so if she thought this situation was surreal then it definitely was without a shadow of a doubt.

"So you decided not to get involved then," a familiar voice from behind them said. "Wise choice. They'll be back eventually though so I suggest you don't stick around too long."

Behind them was the village elder, being carried on a litter by two burly men. Across his lap rested his snake staff. Gently the two men lowered the litter to the ground and the old man got to his feet.

"Do you realise what that thing is?" Sovaer asked, pointing a finger at the reaper.

The old man shrugged. "It's our guardian. It protects us from the demon hounds. That's all I need to know."

"Then perhaps you need to rethink what you need to know," Sovaer shot back. "That thing is a reaper. A soldier made from combining human and Wraith."

"Is that so?" the old man said. "Well he's no threat to us, unlike your two friends."

"You're clearly not afraid of them though," Teyla argued. "Or him."

The old man laughed. "The guardian of the crossing eats normal food same as us. Somehow I doubt those two can say the same. Besides if you wanted us dead I doubt there was much we could do to stop you and of course we would be dead already."

Jason snorted before turning and walking over to the roasting wolf, taking off his helmet as he went. Villagers backed away in fear from the large Wraith. The hulk looked at Jason but didn't make a move to attack him, yet. Possibly he didn't register Jason as a threat despite the two massive weapons slung across his back. Without a word Jason reached out and tore a chunk of roasted meat from the spit before eating it heartily.

"We do eat normal food," Todd said. "Just like all Wraith now do. A lot has changed recently."

"So it would seem," the elder replied, looking thoughtfully at Jason eat.

"Elder…actually come to think of it what is your name?" Sovaer asked.

The old man smiled a crooked grin. "I might ask you the same question."

One by one the SPECTREs introduced themselves.

"My name is Markus," the elder said.

"Nice to meet you," Sovaer said politely. "Now moving on, you lied."

"Did I?" Markus asked innocently.

"Yes you did," Sovaer said. "That reaper is from another planet which means it really hasn't been that long since you last had visitors from another world."

"Clever boy," Markus said. "However it's no business of yours what guests we have had here."

"It is if they were Zarasians," Todd replied. "We are at war with them and for your peoples sake you had better hope that we win."

"And why should I hope for that Wraith?" Markus asked snidely.

"Because if we don't then the Zarasians will conquer your planet and there is nothing you will be able to do to stop them," Ronon answered.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"However we can take you somewhere safe where your people will be protected until this war is over and after that we will advance your civilisation," Eir said.

"Oh and what price would you charge for that?" Markus asked.

"Nothing," Eir said. "We will pay you by educating your people and advancing your civilisation."

"And exactly how does that benefit you?"

"Well for one thing it means there is one less planet for us to worry about defending," Sovaer said. "And it means that the Zarasian population won't be growing thanks to slave labour which would make them easier to deal with."

"The majority, if not nearly all, of the Pegasus population is safe on another world, including my own people," Teyla said. "It is a good offer."

"Well as happy as I am to get something that doesn't technically cost me anything you should know there are other towns round here and they might take some convincing," Markus said. "You'll have to convince them as well."

"So you're convinced?" Sovaer asked hopefully. "Wait, hang on a second there are towns around here?"

"Several," Markus said.

"So why in the ancestors name are you living in a place surrounded by wolves when you could move?" Sovaer asked.

"Don't talk down to me boy!" Markus growled. "I know what is best for my people and that is staying right here."

"Surrounded by predators?"

"Yes surrounded by predators," Markus said heatedly. "On an island guarded by something even the wolves fear. If we tried to go out there in a caravan we would be slaughtered. They were a nuisance in the old days but now no caravan can make it through that forest."

"So what changed?" Eir asked.

The old man sighed and pointed at the hulk. "He did."

"Oh," Eir said in realisation.

"What?" Ronon asked.

"They were the apex predator," Eir explained. "They had no real competition. Nothing that could best one of them on its own let alone a group of them, until that reaper came along."

"You've got the right of it there," Markus confirmed. "You see they aren't just big, they're cunning too. Used to be a right of passage that a young man would join one of the caravans going to the towns and act as a guard but not anymore. Now they know how dangerous the guardian is they keep on coming, forest is full of wolves from packs that wouldn't normally be anywhere near here but they are. They just keep attacking and attacking in the hope of one day getting him. No luck so far of course but who knows, maybe someday one of them will get lucky."

"Which brings us back to the beginning," Sovaer said. "How and when did that thing get here?"

"Come with me," the old man said moving back to his litter. "We're going to the barn."

"What's in the barn?" Ronon asked.

"The answer you're looking for."

* * *

The barn was exactly that, a barn located in a field. On the outside it appeared to be an ordinary barn, and on the inside it was exactly the same. Markus had dismissed his attendants outside and he lead them a seemingly random spot in the middle of the barn.

"Clear away the straw," he instructed the SPECTREs, rapping on the floor with his staff.

The SPECTREs glanced at each other.

Markus sighed. "Just indulge this old man."

When the straw was cleared away it revealed seemingly ordinary floor boards. Markus tapped a specific area, and a section of the floor boards shook.

"If you wouldn't mind?" he asked. "I am an old man after all."

Sovaer stepped forwards and prised up the loose section of the floor boards, revealing a set of stairs leading downwards and out of sight.

"This barn was constructed two years ago," Markus explained as he started down the stairs. "We needed to hide something big where no one would find it. Luckily this area is a bit of a trench so with a little work and so time for the grass on top to grow we had a perfect hiding place."

"For what exactly?" Sovaer asked as they emerged into a dark chamber, the only thing visible being two torches near the entrance and the supports struts that held up the ceiling.

"This," Markus said as he took one of the torches and placed it against a canal of liquid set into the wall.

The oil in the canal caught fire and a line of fire sped along the walls of the underground chamber, illuminating a large metallic construct. It was arrow shaped, rather like an oversized version of one of the Zarasian fighters. Clearly it was a ship.

"They landed here about two years ago," Markus explained. "A half dozen like the guardian, and two humans. One of them stayed with the ship but the other, I guess he was in charge, came into the village bold as brass and said he was here to conduct a field test and by happy coincidence they had found us. Told us how lucky we were because it meant we were now members of the Zarasian Empire, arrogant young brat."

"So what happened to them?" Todd asked.

"Come and see," Markus said, shuffling towards the ship.

When he reached the hatch on the side he pushed a button and the door hissed open, clearly the ship was still somewhat functional. As they stepped inside they realized they could hazard a guess what happened to the humans, and most likely the other reapers. The inside of the small ship was a mess. Dried blood covered the floor and a console was covered in scratches left by some very large claws, whatever had done this was clearly big and vicious.

"I told you," Markus said. "Those demon hounds are cunning buggers. They sensed something strange had turned up on their patch so the pack sent a welcoming party. Those reapers got a proper field test alright, they got themselves ambushed by an entire back. By the time they made it out the forest half of them were dead on their feet and the other half weren't looking too pretty anymore. That brat certainly wasn't so cocky anymore neither. Still he apparently had a brain in his head, told the others to hold them back at the bridge and not to let any of them cross. By the time the wolves decided they had had enough the only one still standing was the guardian. Of course what no one realised was that one of the buggers had managed to sneak in earlier, trying to raid the livestock while we were distracted by their arrival. I told you they were cunning buggers. He found the ship all the way out here, killed the one in here and pounced on the other when he came running back. We never knew he was in here until the screams started, that kid had a real set of lungs on him. By the time that we got here that wolf had half eaten him. We buried the lot of them by the crossing and the guardians being doing his work ever since. Carrying out the last order he was given. That hut has all the things the others like had on him. He keeps them safe, won't let us touch them."

"If this happened two years ago why has no one come here since?" Todd asked.

"Good question Wraith," Markus said. "Personally I reckon it had something to do with this."

He thumped the nearby console with his staff. It sparked and the screen lit up to show a single sentence.

"Self destruct command received," Todd said. "Interesting."

"I suppose you know what that means then?" Markus asked.

"It means this ship, and a good chunk of this island most likely, shouldn't be here," Todd explained as he started tapping away at the console. "But let me see. Ah yes I thought so."

"What is it?" Sovaer asked.

"The receiver array for the subspace communications transceiver has been severed from the rest of the ship most likely thanks to that wolf," Todd explained. "The command was received but wasn't sent to the generators so they didn't overload."

"Does that mean this thing isn't going to blow up?" Markus asked, concerned.

"Not unless someone does anything to the console to re-establish the connection," Todd said. "Like thumping it maybe."

Markus quickly backed away from the console.

"Looks like someone didn't want this ship falling into enemy hands," Sovaer surmised. "Do you know where the self destruct command was sent from?"

"I can do one better than that," Todd said. "I can tell you where this ship came from."

"Good work," Sovaer said. "Download what you can from the ships memory banks and erase that self destruct command."

"You're welcome," Markus muttered.

"Thank you," Sovaer shot back.

* * *

**SPECTRE transport shuttle**

After learning of the Zarasian ship hidden on the SPECTREs had decided that it was time to submit a report of what they found here. They really did have to wonder though what the people in charge would make of what they could find. It was surreal. None of them had considered the possibility that they would find a giant reaper actually aiding the local population as a result of some strange turn of events, and yet that was exactly the situation they found themselves in. It was actually rather funny to imagine the expression on Zarins face should he ever learn what had happened here.

"Admiral Xander," Sovaer said. "I thought it best to call you with the operations occurring on Calium. We have a report on the planet we were ordered to scout."

Xander sighed. "That wasn't necessary I'm afraid, operations on Calium have been suspended for the immediate future."

"You evacuated the locals to Concordia then?" Sovaer assumed.

"No," Xander said, and you could hear the regret in his voice. "We had to perform a complete withdrawal due to the tactical situation."

"What?!" the SPECTREs yelled collectively before they all started asking questions.

"Stop, stop, enough! Quiet!" Xander yelled, trying to get them to stop. The SPECTREs really could be of one mind at times. "Shut up and let me explain! That's an order!"

"Please do," Eir said.

"The Zarasians turned up in a massive ship, twice the size of a Wraith hive," Xander explained. "Worst still they somehow managed to get the locals on their side. Don't ask me how or why because I don't know, none of us do. One minute they were shooting down Zarasian fighters and the next minute they went for our own birds. Luckily they were just Tau'ri UAVs so no losses there but frankly this entire situation is screwed up."

"What happened to the fleet?" Todd asked.

"Apparently Zarin was feeling generous," Xander replied, though he didn't sound like he believed that. "He took down the shields of the _O'Neill_ with one shot of his ships main beam weapon and then let them go. They took the scenic route so they couldn't be followed and fell back to Concordia."

"He was sending a message," Ronon surmised. "He wants us scared."

"Looks that way…hold on beam weapon?" Sovaer asked. "Since when did the Zarasians have beam weapons?"

"Apparently around the same time they got some new ship classes," Xander replied. "There were three new kinds of ship, aside from Zarin's flagship, and they all had beam weapons at least as strong as ours."

"Well we found a small Zarasian transport ship here," Sovaer said. "And a new kind of reaper."

"Let me guess, three meters tall and a very big bun?"

"Don't tell me, they were at Calium too?"

"We call them hulks," Xander said. "They even had vehicles too. They looked pretty similar to the ones the Genii have so I guess now we know where all the ones that were supposedly in storage on one of their old worlds went to. The Zarasians gave them an upgrade and they are quite annoying to have to deal with. It seems they like to short range theatre shields to protect their troops until they're close enough to shoot you."

"Any more good news?" Todd  
asked sarcastically.

"I was hoping you had good news for me actually," Xander shot back.

"The locals would be willing to move to Concordia," Sovaer said. "Though some will need a little convincing."

"I'll see about getting a Beliskner dispatched to the planet for talks," Xander said. "Anything else?"

"We think we found a Zarasian research base nearby," Sovaer said. "It's a short range trip from here. We're sending you the relevant data we recovered from the ship."

"What's the planet?" Xander asked.

"M1M-316," ISIS said helpfully.

"What?" Teyla asked, surprised. "You could have mentioned that sooner ISIS."

"My apologies Miss Emmagen," ISIS said.

"I'm guessing you've been there," Xander said. "What's it like?"

"Dinosaurs," Teyla said.

"Dinosaurs?"

"Big lizards."

"How big?"

"Roughly the same size as a Titan, if not bigger."

"Well I'm game," Sovaer said jovially. "With your permission Admiral?"

"Alright granted," Xander said reluctantly. "But be careful."

"We're SPECTREs remember," Sovaer replied, before severing the connection.

* * *

The six SPECTREs headed back to the village with the news.

"So more of your friends are turning up then," Markus said. "Is there even enough space around here for you all to land?"

"The ship my people are sending do not need to land," Eir said. "They are capable of ignoring a planets gravity field."

"So more people like you then," Markus said, with his crooked grin. "That's going to cause quite a stir in the towns. I wonder how many will start running?"

Eir shot him a dark look.

"Now now missy don't look at me like that," Markus chided. "That fake body of yours is enough to scare even me, and I live on the same island as the guardian and don't scare all that easy. There are those who won't look too kindly on having you appear in your ships over their homes."

"Not all Asgard wear a combat body," Eir replied. "I can assure those that visit this world will look almost human."

"Just without hair," Sovaer added.

"Or clothes," Todd added.

"Or sex organs for that matter," Sovaer added again.

"Finished?" Eir asked irritably.

"I think so," Sovaer said. "You finished Todd?"

"Yes I think that about covers it."

"Good," Sovaer said. "You'll also be going with them as a negotiator elder Markus. I trust that will meet with your approval."

"Why not," Markus said. "It sounds like fun."

"I'm detecting dozen of wolves approaching the crossing," ISIS suddenly warned them. "The hulk is moving to engage. Count is forty and rising."

"Elder!" a villager yelled. "Demon hounds!"

"Twice in one day!" Markus exclaimed. "I should have known. Those others must have seen you."

"There are dozens of them approaching the island," Sovaer warned him. "The hulk can't handle them alone. Let us help you."

"How do you know that?" Markus asked before thinking better of it. "No never mind that doesn't matter now and I shouldn't be surprised anyway. Now then, those demons are here because of you so you can be damn sure you're going to help now get moving already!"

"Yes sir," Sovaer muttered as the SPECTREs started running.

Travelling as fast as they could it didn't take them long to reach the crossing, even from the centre of the village. What they found though when the reached the crossing was enough to stop them in their tracks. There were dozen of those giant wolves pouring onto the bridge, attacking without mercy and chasing after the villagers that had been tending to their guardian not long ago. The hulk meanwhile was cleaving his way through the wolves that had made it to the other side of the crossing unopposed, his minigun spraying plasma like rain drops in a hurricane and his blades cutting down any within reach. The SPECTREs didn't hesitate even for a moment, charging straight into the fray without any regard for their well being. There were people in danger and that was all that mattered.

The hulk seemed to have the ones around the crossing occupied for the time being so they decided to mop up the ones already on the island. The paltry few chasing down the villagers were quickly chased down and dispatched by Eir, Teyla and Sovaer. Meanwhile Todd and Ronon took down the unengaged wolves on the flanks while Jason blasted his way through with his heavy weapons to stand by the hulks side.

Standing together with the wild hordes of the forest closing in on them they looked like long lost cousins reunited, which in a way they were. Both were beings that had been created for destruction by masters who saw them as nothing more than tools to further their own ambitions. Yet now here they stood, as a result of chance and happenstance, fighting for a greater purpose, protecting the weak from the strong and asking for nothing in return. It was picturesque in a way and quite sad in another. While Jason was free he could only look at his distant cousin and feel sadness that he was still enslaved, still bound by the final orders of his former master. Silently Jason vowed to free him, one way or another.

Working together they brought down the wolves that had made it onto the island and started picking off the ones on the other side of the bank from a distance before closing the gap. Sovaer, Eir and Teyla vaulted across the river and started going hand to hand with the wolves. Between Teyla's plasma rods, Eir's plasma repeaters and atomic edged claws, Sovaer's lightning fast reflexes and the SPECTREs enhanced strength the wolves were in for the fight of their lives.

The area around the river crossing was a mess of activity. The air was filled with energy blasts, howls and the smell of scorched flesh from all the dead wolves. The wolves were flocking to the crossing trying to force their way past the two figures barring their way and the smaller two flanking it. Countless carcasses lay on the ground and the river waters ran red with blood. The hulk had accepted the presence of the SPECTREs unquestioningly. In its mind they simply made his mission easier. They had unwittingly become bonded by fire.

But despite the countless dead more and more were pouring out of the woods. A never ending horde of grey furred predator's intent on reclaiming their spot on the highest tiers of the food chain.

"We need help Sovaer," Todd said.

"I know but the ships weapons could level this area," Sovaer replied.

"And these wolves could level the island and us," Todd retorted.

Sovaer scowled but knew he was right, the wolves were coming in droves now. It looked like they weren't taking any chances this time round.

"ISIS," Sovaer yelled over the sounds of the battle ringing in his ears. "Bring the ship now, we need support."

"I am being given orders to stand down," ISIS said. "I cannot comply with your orders."

"On whose authority?" Sovaer demanded.

"The Asgard Sujanha," ISIS replied.

"How in the name of the ancestors is he giving you orders?" Sovaer asked. "Who is she anyway?"

"For the answer to that question young one I suggest you look up," an unfamiliar voice said on the secure channel. "I have arrived."

"Who are…oh," Sovaer began to ask before the question died in his throat as the storm clouds started to form.

"Retreat," Sovaer yelled, knowing what was coming.

Eir and Teyla leaped away from the wolves clawing at them, recognising the warning signs as well. Eir especially knew exactly what was happening. After all it was her races ship that emerged from the middle of the pulsing storm clouds.

The dark metal of the Beliskner class vessel gleamed in from the light of the lightning discharges. The once clear blue sky was now a turbulent mass of thunder and lightning, to the backdrop of black clouds. From the nose of the vessel the ships transport array activated, the glaring white spotlight sweeping across the ground in front of the crossing. Any wolves touched by the heavenly light were whisked away into nothingness, vanishing from sight in an instant. The wolves, being intelligent creatures by nature, were easily capable of figuring out that to get caught in the light meant certain death. As they struggled to halt their advance they crashed into one another, ending up sprawling on the ground in a tangle of limbs before the light hit them and they disappeared. Those few that survived long enough to skid to halt safely scattered in all directions, fleeing into the woods as if there were a thousand hulks chasing after him. The spotlight vanished as the life sign count in the immediate area dwindled to single figures.

"Nice timing," Sovaer said. "Though a little warning would have nice."

"My apologies but I didn't want to break your concentration," Sujanha said. "I took the liberty of not disposing of the reaper in your midst when I noticed he was fighting alongside you. Would you like me to revisit that decision now that the threat is gone?"

"No," Jason said, surprising everyone. "Help him."

Sovaer nodded slowly. "Ok big guy we'll help him…anyone know how we can help him?"

"Do for him what you did for me," Jason rumbled.

"In theory it should be possible," Todd said. "We can't do it right away though."

"Do what you can," Jason said. "Help him."

"We'll do what we can," Teyla assured him. "Right Sujanha?"

"With your permission I'll put him in stasis," Sujanha said.

"Not yet," Jason said.

Jason turned and placed his hands on the hulks shoulders, looking the hulk in the eye. The hulk stared back at him blankly.

"You have completed your mission," Jason said. "Rest now."

The hulk stared back at him and something seemed to click. Something about being on this world had changed him. Maybe it was the constant battle to protect the village, maybe it was the lack of indoctrination ground into him by Zarasian commanders or maybe it was the fact that he was still being field tested. Somehow, for some reason, the words from Jason made sense somewhere in the hulks mind. The hulk nodded and walked back to his hut, dropping his weapon and sitting down in the shade.. In an absent minded sort of way he reached up and removed the crack eyepiece covering his left eye, before rummaging around in the pile of objects piled at the back of the hut. Pulling out a spare eyepiece he placed over his left eye, replacing the original that had been broken in the battle. His head drooped slightly as he gave in to exhaustion.

The last hulk, known to the locals as the guardian of the crossing, had fought his last battle on this world.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	70. Land of the Dinosaurs

"You better be thinking about helping him," Markus said. "My people won't be willing to come with you if you do anything to harm the guardian."

"When did you get here?" Sovaer asked.

Markus sneered at him. "Don't underestimate me boy, or old men in general. Just because I'm not as spry as I used to be doesn't mean I'm incapable of getting somewhere quickly in a hurry."

"In other words you were carried," Sovaer said.

"You're learning boy," Markus said in a praising voice. "Now as I was saying, no hurting the guardian."

"I believe I can help with that," Sujanha said, appearing in holographic form.

"Who are you?" Markus asked. "You related to Eir in some way, you look like her only more human looking."

"I am a member of the same race," Sujanha said. "I am just using a different model body. My name is Sujanha and I the one controlling the ship above you."

"And what do you reckon you can do to help?" Markus said. "And don't say putting him out of his misery."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Sujanha said. "The problem as it stands is the Zarasian programming and technology that has been implanted into his mind. I would like to put him in stasis until a solution can be found."

"Meaning?"

"He'll sleep."

"It won't hurt?"

"No."

Markus nodded. "Alright then good enough."

Jason also made a sound of agreement.

"Very well then," Sujanha said.

In a flash of white light the hulk vanished.

"Well well, that was interesting," Markus said upon seeing the transport beam in action as opposed to the sweep light. "Don't forget his things in the hut."

"Of course," said Sujanha. "They've been placed in storage."

"Now then I guess we'll be leaving," Markus said. "I'll tell my people to gather their things."

"Just like that?" Teyla asked.

"Just like that missy," Markus said.

"I'm surprised," Todd said. "Not many people are willing to leave their homes so easily."

"Don't underestimate us Wraith," Markus warned. "We've known a day like this was coming for some time now. We've been preparing for it."

Seeing the SPECTREs exchange puzzled looks Markus sighed. "Oh my, young ones these days. No foresight whatsoever."

"You know I'm older than you right?" Todd asked.

"As am I," Eir added.

Jason grunted.

"You should get wise before you  
get old," Markus warned them. "Anyway I didn't mean this day, I meant one like it. You didn't think we didn't realise that a day might come when the guardian wouldn't be here to protect us? That we would have to brave the woods and travel to the towns or die because the demon hounds wanted our hides? Oh we knew alright so we prepared to take everything we needed and leave at a moments notice. The only difference in this case is that we can take everything of ours and not just the things we had stored."

"If you gather your possessions together I will beam them and your people aboard," Sujanha said after a moment's silence.

"Thank you," Markus said.

"Then you and I will be going on a trip to the other settlements," Sujanha added.

"Eh?"

"You will be the messenger who will present our offer to the other people of this world," Sujanha said. "With me at your side of course. I trust this will be acceptable to you?"

Markus burst out laughing. "Oh you got me pegged missy that's for sure. Oh I'll do it all right, of that you can be certain."

"By the ancestors what have we done?" Sovaer muttered.

"I'm blaming you," Ronon deadpanned.

"Why me?"

"You took charge."

"You want to be in charge big guy?"

"Nope."

"Damn."

* * *

It didn't take the locals long to amass a pile of crates in the village square containing all the essential things they would need once they left the village. Of course since most of them were filled with food and medicine, along with all the other supplies they would require to survive leaving their home behind, they were largely superfluous. On Concordia they would have all of the food and medical care they could ever require along with a roof over their heads. The majority of these supplies, along with their livestock, would remain in a dematerialised state for re-materialisation when they finally returned to this world. While these items were gathered quickly, the rest would still take sometime. Since they had the opportunity to take everything they possessed with them they were. It took a while to strip the houses bare of everything that wasn't nailed down, and in some cases everything that was nailed down, but eventually they were ready to go.

At long last the villagers were ready depart, having been beamed aboard the Asgard ship that hung lazily above the village. Markus had been very insistent about one thing though, no matter what that Zarasian transport would be coming back into his or the villagers possession. The Alliance would have free reign to take it apart to learn its secrets or scour its memory banks but at the end of the war it would be put back together again or replaced. The old goat had even gotten them to sign a contract agreeing to such, much to Sunjanha's amusement, before taking his place on the bridge of the Asgard ship. The six SPECTREs could easily picture Markus standing beside Sujanha as the vessel moved through the atmosphere towards the first of several towns. Upon arrival the pair would beam down and make the offer to the locals and hopefully eventually take them to Concordia.

Finally the SPECTREs were free to depart this world and move on to the dinosaur planet, with much the same mission as they had been given for this planet. This time though they firmly believed they would find a Zarasian outpost, possibly even a valuable one at that if hulks had been dispatched here for field testing.

The Alliance desperately needed a victory, the war council was being held and the mood was grim. Against a ship like the _Doom Bringer_, a ship that had seemingly been built for conquest, the Alliance had no hope of winning a forward conflict. Instead they were turning to guerrilla warfare tactics, striking at the enemy from the shadows. Head on confrontations against the _Doom Bringer_ weren't possible but the rest of the Zarasian Empire was another matter. The soft flesh, the body that supported the Zarasian Empire, was a far easier target than the Zarasian flagship. And of course without support from the Empire the _Doom Bringer_ was simply a single ship that would eventually run out of fuel in the form of food and water for the crew that manned it. Ironic as it was the Alliance was adopting the opposite strategy to normally preferred warfare, at least if you want to end a war quickly and with only few losses. Instead of killing the head so the body would die they would kill the body so that the head would die.

To this end Borealis would push further into Zarasian territory while Atlantis was brought up to take her place as a forward supply base. Borealis was one of the secret weapons that the Alliance had been hoping to withhold for some time to come. But now circumstances required that the base ship be brought forwards to the front lines instead of simply striking out from the shadows through the use of ships. Of course she would still be operating in that role but now, if a particularly juicy target arose, she would get the chance to use her own formidable weaponry. Borealis was simply such a powerful asset, being both fast and formidable, that it would arguably be foolish not to use it to the fullest. There was after all a galaxy on the line, and possibly not just one.

So it came to pass that the SPECTREs said goodbye to Markus, the villagers and the world filled with giant wolves to travel to a world filled with vicious dinosaurs. It wasn't long before the rest of the team pointed out to Sovaer that he had unintentionally been asking for this outcome when they were being sent on a scouting mission. Sometimes the universe answers, even if the answer isn't one you want to hear.

* * *

**M1M-316**

The dinosaur world as it was called was actually quite beautiful. It was a vibrant green world, untouched by pollution that came as a by-product of the presence of mankind or any developing race. If it wasn't for the natural hazards in the form of large reptiles, some of whom could and would swallow a grown man whole, then it would have been a lovely place to live. However though there were herbivores among the indigenous animals there were also dangerous predators and so the planet had not been seeded with human life. Instead it was dinosaur life that flourished here, and flourished with a passion.

How some years ago a new presence had arisen on this world. Though they had not realised it at the time SGA-1 had stepped foot on a Zarasian controlled world while hunting for a suitable alpha site. Knowing of the dangers presented by the indigenous predators the Zarasians had never seen fit to build their base around the stargate when ships would allow them to easily bring supplies. Like so many travellers that had stumbled across the world over the millennia SGA-1 had fled to avoid being eaten. No one ever returned to the planet after their first visit, and that fact had kept the Zarasian base hidden ever since its construction. Recently though the dinosaurs that skulked around the electric fences that protected the base found themselves suffering from a different fate than one they expected. Normally they would just be left alone, since they didn't pose an immediate threat and as such it was a very popular feeding spot for a number of herbivores. However that policy had recently been changed and many specimens from a number of species had been captured by the Zarasians for study. The Zarasian scientists were skilled geneticists, one only had to look at the reapers and hulks to see that, and now they had acquired new DNA to experiment with. In the labs of the base hybrid creatures were being nurtured and were quickly growing to maturity. With every passing moment the power and diversity of the Zarasian ground forces was growing, quite literally in fact.

When the SPECTREs arrived here they began a sweep of the planet, searching for the Zarasian base that they believed to be present. Scanning the planet did not reveal anything to suggest the presence of a base but they knew that the Zarasians had ways to mask their presence so a more in depth scan was required. To search for the base they searched not for the presence of a base but for the lack of one and anything else. More specifically they were searching for an area of land that had a distinct lack of the natural gases that should be present. While stealth technology could mask the presence of the buildings and power sources from immediate detection it also hid everything else in the immediate area. As a result while stealth technology worked well in the vacuum of space it had a crucial weakness in a planets atmosphere. It took time but eventually they were able to locate the hidden base on sensors, and once they knew where it was they could begin to infiltrate it.

Parking their still cloaked ship some distance away from the base so that it would not be stumbled upon the six SPECTREs approached the outskirts of the base on foot. With their personal cloaks active they were completely invisible to the hulks and tanks positioned along the fences. Presumably these guards were here to stand against any dinosaurs that might try to get past the fence and yet there were no dinosaurs to be seen for miles around. They were completely undetectable and went completely unnoticed even after they took a run up and leapt over the high electric fence that surrounded the base. With six thuds they landed, leaving shallow impact marks where they hit the ground. Avoiding the roving patrols they crept deeper into the heart of the base, searching out information on what secrets it held. This certainly did not appear to be a military base like the one previously encountered. Despite being expansive there were no large barracks for reapers, or shipyards or even places for ships to land for that matter. Instead this appeared to be a more scientific in nature, guarded certainly, but not solely military.

"Okay we're in," Sovaer said. "Any preferences for where we look first?"

"Give me a moment," Todd requested as he tapped away the micro computer on his wrist.

"What are you thinking?" Teyla asked.

"Now that we're inside the dampening field that renders ship sensors useless I'm searching for power signatures," Todd explained. "I'm trying to determine which buildings are drawing more power than others."

"You know something we don't?" Ronon asked.

"I'm not going to answer that," Todd replied with a smirk. "However if this is, as we suspect, a research outpost then it must have labs with equipment that draw on significant amounts of power."

"Any luck then?" Sovaer asked.

"Let's see," Todd said, as he scrolled through the readouts. "There are several high energy signatures which are most likely power generators. Several smaller signatures regularly spaced around the outskirts of the base which is probably the sensor dampening field emitters. Ah yes we should check out the big building."

"Because?"

"Because it's drawing much more power relative to its size than the others, none of which are centralized. If there is something important then it is most likely in that building."

"Thermals?" Sovaer asked Eir.

The Asgardian switched her visual input to infra red mode and stared at the large concrete building Todd had indicated.

"Multiple heat blooms," she reported after a little while. "The majority are small, human shaped, reapers or humans most likely. Some smaller, less strong, which is probably equipment. Multiple large blooms though, several of which are moving."

"Hulks maybe?" Todd surmised.

"Possibly but some are large, larger than a hulk I think. It's hard to say with everything else in the way."

"Let's go see for ourselves then," Sovaer said.

Silently the six SPECTREs stalked off to the largest building in the entire base. The nearest side door was locked and could only be opened by entering a code, so naturally they were briefly delayed while Todd removed the panel and hacked the door mechanism and then they were in. The internal corridors were a pale white, the surfaces gleaming with a light shine that suggested a highly sterile environment. If they had removed their helmets and not breathed in air through filters then they would note that the corridor had that disinfectant smell associated with hospitals.

"Eir," Sovaer said. "Lead the way."

"This way," she said, setting off down the corridor.

The group walked silently down the corridor, occasionally moving aside to keep Zarasians or reaper patrol from walking right into the cloaked group. The six of them were completely invisible but all it would have taken was a single bump for their presence to be revealed and the alarm to be raised. It was ironic that with all the advanced technology being used to conceal them they could still be caught in the act by someone walking into them. The level of security present clearly showed that this was an important building. It seemed like every two minutes they passed a patrol of cyborg reapers, the corridors were lined with sensors and cameras and every one of the doors had an electronic lock. Whatever the Zarasians were working on here it was clearly something they deemed very important.

Eventually they arrived at the chamber with the largest heat blooms, at least according to Eir.

"It's through here," she reported.

"Todd," Sovaer said.

"I'm on it."

It took him a couple of minutes to hack the lock but eventually they were in and the door slid open with a gentle hiss. The group stepped in to a large chamber filled with bubbling tanks of clear liquid, each of which was occupied by a large lizard like creature.

"Damn!" Sovaer whispered softly.

"Well I guess we know what was generating the heat blooms," Todd said.

"What are they?" Eir asked.

"Dinosaurs," Teyla said.

"These are the dinosaurs? But they they're so big," Todd said.

"I told you they were big," Teyla pointed out.

"Yes but these things aren't just big," Todd said. "They're huge."

He wasn't joking. Each of the specimens in the tanks had to be at least fifteen feet long and that not including the tail. There were several different kinds of lizards in the tanks but they appeared to belong to two distinctive evolutionary groups. One of them appeared to be a quadruped with four thick limbs but was not dissimilar to a tyrannosaurus, and possibly it was related in some way. The other tanks were occupied by creatures with a thick armour plate running along their backs and a spiked tail.

"The armoured dinosaurs would appear to be a breed of ankylosauria," ISIS informed them. "The others bear a resemblance to the xuanhanosaurus genus and definitely theropods."

There was a brief pause as the SPECTREs assimilated this information and processed the fact that it meant practically nothing to them.

"ISIS," Sovaer said. "While I'm sure that people who already have knowledge about dinosaurs would find that interesting I should point out we aren't those people and as a result the information means nothing to us. Also, how do you know that anyway?"

"The databanks on the ship contain limited data files from the Weir," ISIS explained. "Since information on dinosaurs is deemed to not be classified material they are included. I accessed they known information of fossil records and made a comparison using the visual data transmitted from your suits sensors."

"I see," Sovaer said.

"Shall we press on?" Eir asked.

"Where to?"

"The next chamber."

"There's another chamber?"

"Well there is a door at the end of the room," Eir pointed out, and indeed there was and it was a big door at that.

"I've got it," Todd said, heading to the control panel.

"You're slipping," Ronon joked.

"I like to think of it as blinded by dinosaurs," Sovaer retorted.

"Moving on," Todd said. "Let's see what's behind the big door."

When the door finally opened with a gentle rumble it revealed a chamber just as large as the last and just as filled. The major difference though was the specimens in the tanks hadn't been taken from the planet but had been growing, and several were still growing. The shapes that were immediately visible in the first tanks were strange. Mutated. Deformed. They weren't natural creatures. They were certainly lizard like creatures but they weren't supposed to look this, they should have massive bulges of flesh sticking out of them or stunted or overgrown limbs and heads. Clearly these things were the products of Zarasian experiments, most likely involving the specimens in the other room. As they walked further and further into the room it felt like they were walking through the history of the Zarasians experiments. Each tank they passed held a creature that was a little less deformed than the last. The muscles were a little more defined and the limbs a little thicker and eventually other features became more apparent. The hybrids in the first of the tanks appeared to be combinations of reapers and xuanhanosaurus DNA but those in the last few tanks appeared to include elements of ankylosauria in their genetic make up, specifically the armor plating and spiked tail. Around their sharp featured faces was a breathing apparatus, linking to oxygen tanks outside the tanks.

The tank in the far end held the final completed product. It was a massive creature, its face a strange combination of human and lizard features that made it seem almost humanoid despite the large tail. Its four limbs were thick and powerful, and ending in clawed four toed feet. Floating in the tank it appeared to be at fifteen foot tall standing on its hind legs, with the long spiked tail adding at least five more feet.

"Wow!" Sovaer said. "That thing is a monster."

"I think that was the idea when they made it," Eir said.

"You think this is the prototype?" Todd asked.

"I hope so," Teyla said. "The idea of many of these things running around is troubling."

"So what are we going to do now?" Ronon asked. "Destroy this thing?"

"Destroying this specimen won't make a difference if the research data remains intact," Todd said. "And if they have genetic samples which can be used to make more then its loss won't even slow them down."

"Still though it would give them something to worry about," Eir said. "This creature represents a successful blending of multiple DNA strains and unless they have large amounts of genetic samples to draw upon there is a limit to the number they could make. They would need to recreate the original and that would take time."

"Okay then," Sovaer said. "We need to destroy this facility along with any samples and research data they might have."

"Not the easiest of tasks," Todd pointed out.

"No but then again none of our tasks are always that easy," Sovaer replied. "And it's not like we haven't done something similar in the past."

"We do have explosives with us," Ronon added. "Plant them around a few naquadah generators and the explosion should be pretty big."

Jason grunted his agreement.

"This is all assuming of course that they haven't already begun mass production," Eir pointed out.

"We live in hope," Sovaer said. "How much explosives do we have between us?"

Ronon smirked. "How much do you need?"

Sovaer returned the grin. "Plant a few charges around these tanks. Even if we can't get to the computers we can get rid of the results of their research."

"That will only do so much good," Todd pointed out.

"Yes but it should make a nice diversion if we happen to need one."

While Ronon and Jason started rigging powerful charges at certain positions around the two chambers the others continued searching the room for information. There were several consoles around the room that would hopefully contain research information. Ideally they would be able to simply erase all the data from the computer core without having to blow it up, but alternatively they could go for the quick and messy option and rig the reactors to overload. The resulting explosion should take out the entire base and good deal of the surrounding landscape.

"Anything?" Sovaer asked.

"Some research data. Testing logs, failed experiments," Todd said. "It looks like they were combining reaper and dinosaur DNA. Our friend in the tank there appears to be the result."

"Anything else?"

"There are a lot of security protocols here," Eir replied. "But there are references to another one of those things and a type two prototype."

"So we need to take out another one of those things?" Sovaer said.

"One that is probably moving around."

"Sounds like fun," Ronon said.

"We ready?" Sovaer asked.

"Say the word and this place goes boom."

"We should move on," Todd said. "I've planted a virus in the computer core that will erase all the stored data in two hours."

"Nicely done," Sovaer said. "Let's go hybrid hunting."

The six SPECTREs moved through what they were quickly coming to realise was a monstrous complex. The exterior had deceptively made them think it was much smaller than the internal space revealed it actually was. One thing they had realised was that they were actually descending the further in they travelled, which suggested that a number of floors were actually underground.

Eventually they made their way to a large open arena that was crawling with reapers and Zarasians. From an observation window they could see the large hybrid lizard in the middle. Unlike the one in the tank though this one was conscious and moving about and looked much fiercer than its double. Surrounding it were a dozen hulks that did nothing to make it seem any smaller, especially since the thing was standing on its hind legs and overshadowed them. Overlooking the arena was an open air platform that was occupied by several Zarasian officers and scientists, and one figure in a pitch black robe.

"You think we should name this thing?" Sovaer asked.

"Not a bad idea," Todd said. "Might as well do it before Sheppard can."

"John does come up with some interesting names," Teyla noted.

"How about reapersaur?" Sovaer suggested.

"Dinoreaper?" Todd suggested.

"Reaptile?" Ronon suggested.

"Behemoth," Eir said.

The others mulled it over before murmuring their approval at the name behemoth.

"Behemoth it is then," Sovaer said. "So what do you think they're doing down there."

"Probably a weapons test," Todd said. "They want to see how it will hold up against strong opponents."

"Yes but hulks?"

"Why not?" Eir asked. "If they can beat hulks then they can take on anything. Maybe even Titans."

"So this could be their answer to the Titan," Sovaer surmised. "In that case we had better get rid of it sooner rather than later."

"Let's watch what happens first though," Teyla said. "I want to know what we'll be up against."

"Sounds like a plan," Sovaer said.

In the arena the thirteen figures stood motionless, waiting for the order to begin.

On the open air platform the cloaked figure stepped forward, his metallic hands tightly gripping a large computer pad.

"Begin," he intoned, pressing a button on the pad.

The hulks, armed only with their wrist mounts, raised their weapons and fired at the behemoth, but it had already started moving. Diving forward onto all fours it charged forwards at a frightening speed, revealing a metallic shape on its back with a glowing red light. Before the hulks could even react to its proximity it was on them. Two of them were brought down as it slammed into them and were gutted by its sharp claws. Another was decapitated as the spiked tail off the behemoth swung round in a wide arc to impact its armoured head. The headless body of the hulk dropped like a ton of bricks, blood pouring out of the mutilated stump that was all that remained of its neck.

The remaining nine hulks retaliated by firing plasma bolt after plasma bolt into the armour plated hide of the behemoth. The shots burned and scorched the behemoth but did not kill it. The behemoth spun around in response, its tail bringing down another two hulks. The two corpses trapped beneath its four fingered clawed hands were unceremoniously scooped up and flung at their living brothers knocking another two to the ground. The five still standing hulks moved together while still firing, realising that taking on that thing at close range was suicide. While they were pulling back the behemoth moved forward and finished off the two hulks on the ground. As it charged forwards and spun around its tail clipped yet another hulk, lightly wounding it but not killing it. Unfortunately that didn't save it from when the tail swung back around and slammed down onto its head, smashing it into a bloody pulp.

By now the behemoth was beginning to feel the effects of the near constant bombardment of plasma bolts. Its natural armour plating, combined with its tough and thick hide and dense muscles had kept it standing this long but its shaky movements gave away the damage done. If the fight lasted much longer then it would be in trouble and apparently it knew it. The behemoth charged at the remaining four hulks, who dived to the side to avoid it. As they moved away from the lumbering beast glowing blades sprang from wrist mounts and were swung at limbs. Surprisingly though, despite the deep gashes in its limbs, the behemoth didn't so much as twitch let alone show signs that it was in pain. The creature seemed completely unfazed by the fact that it was apparently on its last legs. Instead it just swung its tail around and knocked all of them to the ground, not injuring them but leaving them dazed on the ground. They were completely helpless for when the behemoth swiped at them with its claws as they tried to get up.

By now the behemoth was showing fatigue from the battle. Its hide was scorched and burned from numerous plasma bolts and there were deep gashes on its limbs that squirted out blood with every step it took.

On the observation platform the robed figure casually typed something on its computer pad. The behemoth turned to the corpses of the dead hulks. Moving to the nearest one the creature ripped open the ribcage of the hulk and started devouring its guts. This continued with the other hulks until they were all nothing but bones. As the onlookers watched the behemoths wounds knitted themselves together, healing before their eyes. Clearly the creature had inherited the healing characteristics from its reaper DNA.

In a matter of moments and a feast of the dead the behemoth was restored to its former state. Leaving the remains behind the creature lumbered off through a now open door, curling up to rest.

"Damn!" Sovaer said softly. "I really do not want to have to take that thing on."

"Neither do I but we do need to destroy it," Todd said. "If they can begin to mass produce that thing then our ground forces will be in serious trouble."

"Such a large creature would take time to grow to maturity though," Eir pointed out. "That would limit the number they could deploy in a short period of time."

"Unfortunately these people like to think long term," Sovaer replied. "And we have no idea of their production capabilities. They could make thousands of these things in a relatively short amount of time."

"So our mission just remains the same then," Ronon said. "Let's go hunting."

"We'll take that control collar as well though," Sovaer said. "We might learn something from it."

The six SPECTREs moved away from the window and began to make their way down to the behemoth pen. They didn't notice as they left that the cloaked figure was looking towards them. In the shadows created by his hood Azamoth smiled a predatory grin.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	71. Practical Lessons

"Is this it?" Sovaer asked, referring to the door in front of them.

They had made their way down several levels before they had come to this single door, which as it happened was much thicker than the others they had encountered. Clearly the Zarasians didn't want their pet getting loose.

"It's hard to get a clear reading through these walls but there is a large heat signature in the distance," Eir replied.

"Okay then. Todd, you're up."

The Wraith once again hacked the control panel on the wall and opened the heavy door. It revealed a wide corridor and another door. When they were about half way down the corridor a light spray from nozzles mounted on the ceiling rained down on them.

"What was that?" Sovaer asked.

"Nothing harmful as far as I can tell," Eir said. "Possibly a cleaning or decontamination spray for the creature. It could also be a security protocol to dissuade the creature from proceeding."

"What caused it to activate?" Teyla asked.

"I think I did," Todd said. "When I overrode the door controls I tricked it into thinking the doors opened as they should. If that spray was automatic then it was meant to activate."

"Definitely not harmful?" Sovaer asked.

"Definitely."

"Okay we move on."

Todd once again opened the last door, revealing the behemoth. As the door slid open the behemoth turned its large head to look in their direction but couldn't see them. It sniffed the air but still couldn't find them. It stood up on its hind legs and turned and lumbered back into the arena.

"Well this just got a bit more difficult," Ronon noted. "Someone will notice when that thing suddenly dies in the middle of the arena."

"True but if we can sneak up on that thing and stick a bomb on it we can detonate it from a distance and no one will find us," Sovaer said.

"You want to sneak up on that thing and just plant a bomb on its belly?" Todd asked incredulously.

"We're invisible remember," Sovaer pointed out. "Plus if we magnetically attach it to what I presume is a control device on its back hopefully no one will notice it."

"There a plan b?" Ronon asked.

"We go out there and shoot it and hope no one notices."

"Sounds good to me."

"But not very practical if we want to remain undetected," Teyla pointed out.

"So plan a?"

"I think so."

The six SPECTREs moved forwards, with Teyla and Ronon bringing up the rear. Just as the first four crossed the threshold into the arena the door slammed down without any warning, leaving Ronon and Teyla in the holding pen. The two Pegasus natives turned and readied their weapons as the rumble of footsteps echoed off the metal walls. Cyborg reapers poured down the short corridor leading to the holding pen. They had company.

In the arena the other four SPECTREs drew their own weapons as the behemoth turned towards them. This time they were under no illusion. They knew that it knew they were there and exactly where they were.

"Welcome to my little test ground," a high, cackling voice intoned. "It is so nice to meet the SPECTREs in person. Now tell me which one of you is Sovaer?"

The SPECTREs didn't even react to the mocking voice. They simply moved closer together and backed away from the wall. If the behemoth charged at them they didn't want to be backed into a corner. On the observation platform the cloaked figure they had seen before moved in to view.

"No answer? Oh that is such a pity," Azamoth mocked. "I guess I will just have to narrow down the number of candidates then."

He casually tapped his computer and the SPECTREs felt the ground start to fall out from under them as the trap door opened. Sovaer and Eir, thanks to their artificial nervous system, were able to react fast enough to leap away the moment they felt themselves begin to fall. They managed to grab the sides of the pit and haul themselves up while Todd and Jason fell. The trap door swung back into place a moment later.

"Four down one to go," Azamoth cackled gleefully. "Now do announce yourself please Sovaer or I won't be able to make my offer to spare your friends lives."

"Todd, Jason, Ronon, Teyla, what's your status?" Sovaer shouted frantically into the com.

"We're okay for now but we have company," Teyla replied.

"It's those cyborg reapers again," Ronon added.

"We are also okay and have the same problem," Todd said.

"Hold on for now," Sovaer ordered. "They can't see you so you should be alright, just don't draw attention to yourself."

"I know you are there," Azamoth continued when Sovaer didn't answer him. "I also know exactly where your friends are. However I am willing to make a deal for their lives but not if you refuse to reveal yourself or talk."

The behemoth moved closer towards the pair. It definitely knew they were there.

"In case you were wondering it can smell you," Azamoth said. "That spray was what we use to mark its food. You really shouldn't have been so overconfident. Opening a door to a secure area that only a few people have access to and thinking no one would notice, very sloppy. And in case you were wondering I can tell you are there I had you marked with radioactive tags as well so I know exactly where you are."

Sovaer swore. Once again they had been tagged without them even realising it, they seemed to be making a bad habit of this.

"Who are you?" Sovaer asked finally.

"Cyber Lord Azamoth, renowned genius and inventor," Azamoth answered smugly.

"What do you want?"

"Cloak off first," Azamoth ordered.

"The cloak stays on."

"We shall see," Azamoth replied before tapping another button on his pad.

From the walls of the arena bumps emerged and began to hum with energy. Before they realised what was happening lightning bolts sprang from them and filled the air around the two SPECTREs. The two of them were knocked off their feet as the bolts struck them. They were protected thanks to the insulation of their amour but the crystals on their cloaks shattered as the raw energy was channelled through them.

"Not good," Sovaer muttered as he realised he was visible again.

"I'm guessing you just got struck by lightning too?" Todd asked.

"You as well?"

"And us," Teyla added.

"Cloaks?" Sovaer asked.

"Destroyed," Ronon answered.

"Same here," Todd said.

"And here," Sovaer said. "I'm going to try talking to him."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Eir asked.

"At this point it really can't hurt."

"I'm waiting," Azamoth unwittingly added to the conversation he couldn't hear.

"What do you want?" Sovaer demanded.

Azamoth chuckled manically. "Isn't it obvious? I want you young cyborg."

"You want to study him," Eir said.

"Correct Asgardian and I would much rather have living specimens to study than dead ones. Now surrender."

"And if I don't?" Sovaer asked.

"Then your friends die and maybe you too before you are finally captured."

Sovaer scowled at the Cyber Lord.

"No answer? Perhaps this will encourage you to make the right decision."

Without warning the behemoth charged at them and at the same time weapons fire blasted over the com. Sovaer was sent flying backwards as the beast's massive tail smashed into him while Eir was knocked down, the massive clawed hand of the behemoth pressing down on her. As it crushed her chest she desperately clawed at it with her free left hand before firing a burst of her plasma repeater into it. She only managed a brief few shots before it bit into and ripped off her arm, crushing it in her powerful jaw.

"Eir!" Sovaer yelled as he got back to his feet and fired into the side of the beast. "Let her go!"

It was to no avail however as the wounds inflicted by him and Eir healed almost instantly since the behemoth had recently fed. Over the com weapons fire still blazed. The others were in trouble as well.

"Stop this!" he demanded.

"I'll make this simple for you then," Azamoth mocked as a door at the other end of the arena slid open and let in a glimpse of sunlight at the top of the ramp. "There is the door. If you want your friends to walk out of it then drop your weapons and surrender."

"Don't do it," Eir said. "He needs to learn a few lessons about us."

"And what might they be?" Azamoth asked, clearly amused.

"Allow me to answer that," Todd broadcast over Sovaer's suit speakers.

The floor shook before it suddenly exploded, flinging chunks of metal in all directions. Anyone who had been paying attention would note that the section of floor that was now a twisted ruin was the same section where the trap door had been. Two figures sprang from the column of smoke that rose from the hole, causing Azamoth to scowl.

"Lesson one, if you dump any of us down a hole then make sure we stay there!"

With a screech of metal the door to the behemoth pen bent and was ripped open, torn apart by Ronon's powerful hands. Teyla leaped through the gap created and charged at the Wraith. As Ronon stepped into the arena he revealed the pile of dead reapers behind them.

"Lesson two, reapers and locked doors barely even slow us down!"

Teyla leapt forwards and charged at the behemoth. Her glowing plasma rods skewered the control device on its back, ripping it away from the creature but not destroying it. She leapt back as it roared and thrashed around, releasing Eir from its grip. The others followed up with blasts from their weapons, causing it to reel and howl from the blows.

Azamoth scowled. "You really shouldn't have removed the string. Now there is nothing to stop it from killing you all."

The string in question attempted to scuttle away, despite the sparking hole in its side.

"Give up now and maybe I can save you."

"Lesson three, we never give up!" Sovaer yelled.

The SPECTREs began pounding the behemoth with weapons fire. Without the string penning its mind anymore it howled in pain with every hit. Letting out a guttural roar it charged at them angrily, desperate to kill the things that had hurt it.

This time though they were ready for it, and even if they hadn't been an animal blinded by rage and crippled by pain is much less quick on its feet than one that is someone else's puppet. They easily avoided its wild swings and continued firing on it.

"Eir, grab that thing," Sovaer ordered, indicating the string slowly scuttling away. "We're taking souvenirs."

Eir darted away and snatched up the string with her remaining hand. The string struggled in her grasp but couldn't escape her grip.

"Got it," she said, just as the behemoth gave one final cry and collapsed to the ground, its body pot marked and burned.

Finishing the job Teyla leaped up and rammed her plasma rods into its skull, killing it for good.

"Thanks for showing us the door Azamoth," Sovaer said as he and the other SPECTREs bolted for the open door.

Before they could make it through though a large figure strode down the ramp and blocked their way, it was another behemoth. This one though was different. Unlike the one lying dead over there it was clad in thick armour plating, wielding plasma weapons on its wrists and its eyes were covered by cybernetic eyepieces. Stalking down the ramp on all fours its metallic gauntlets and flicking bladed tail clicked away. This was certainly a much more powerful creature than the one they had just killed, and it didn't have a string clamped to its back. When it reached the base of the ramp and entered the arena it stood on its hind legs, towering over them.

"No doubt while poking through the databanks you discovered references to the type two prototype," Azamoth said conversationally. "This is the result and the reason I am even here. Oh and you should know that your virus has been discovered and neutralised, along with the charges you planted. Now tell me, what do you think of my latest masterpiece?"

"Don't tell me," Todd spat. "You're the one who mutilated by brethren and made them into the cyborg creatures that they are now."

Beside him Jason let out a low growl.

Azamoth smirked. "Yes it was."

Todd and Jason's response was to fire at the Cyber Lord, engulfing the platform in flame. When the blast from the explosion cleared Azamoth was still standing there, completely unharmed. Around him a personal shield glowed orange, having protected him from the two Wraiths rage fuelled attacks.

"Nice try," Azamoth gloated. "But like your friend over there I am much more than I appear to be."

"Jason," Todd said. "The platform."

Jason immediately changed targets and shot at the platform beneath Azamoth's feet. The platform shook before the support struts twisted and buckled, bring the entire structure down in a pile of twisted and broken metal. As Azamoth fell to the ground the robe that garbed him caught on the jagged edges of the remains of the platform and was torn away as he fell. When the smoke finally cleared Azamoth was kneeling on the floor, having landed in a controlled manner. As he rose to his feet he ripped away the tattered remains of his robe, revealing his true form. Cybernetic implants and wires were present across his entire body. His legs ended in clawed robotic feet. His left eye was covered by a cybernetic eyepiece that was rimmed by glowing red lights while the rest of his head was capped by an armoured helmet. His right hand was partially covered in a cybernetic gauntlet with wires linking into his upper arm, while the left was completely replaced by a whirring and sparking stump that ended in numerous implements. His torso was covered by an armoured chest piece and there was the hint of robotic arms protruding from his back.

"As you can see," he sneered, revealing metallic teeth. "I am much more than I first appear to be."

"Why would you do such a thing to yourself?" Eir asked, shocked by his appearance.

Azamoth shrugged. "It is the price one must pay for immortality, until I can find something better of course. Your friend over there should be able to help with that."

"I didn't choose to be the way I am so that I could live forever," Sovaer retorted.

"No? A happy coincidence for you then. I, on the other hand, am grateful for such an opportunity. Now will you hand him over to me or fight futilely before you die."

Eir took a step towards the Cyber Lord, looking like a vengeful demon and causing Azamoth to nervously take a step back.

"I told you that have lessons to learn about us," she said in a voice so low it was almost a growl. "Lesson four, we're a team you idiot!"

Sovaer chuckled and turned to face the behemoth. "You heard her. That thing is mine."

Todd took a step forwards and fell into line with him. "No it's mine."

Ronon joined them. "It's mine."

Jason stepped forwards. "Mine."

Teyla joined them. "Why not together? We are a team after all."

"Alright together then," Sovaer agreed. "On three."

"One."

Eir fell back behind them while Azamoth watched on, amused by the interesting turn of events. Against his creation they wouldn't stand a chance but it would be amusing to watch them try and fight against it. It would be a pity though if the cyborg was damaged. He had been very much looking forward to studying him intact but study of the remains could still be promising.

"Two."

The five SPECTREs settled into a running stance, their right arms pulled back and curled into fists. Eir moved closer to them. Azamoth's eyes, even the covered one, widened in surprise. He had expected them to fight but not like this. They couldn't possibly be planning to…

"Three."

The five SPECTREs leaped forwards at the behemoth, moving at superhuman speeds. With perfect timing and group co-ordination they lashed out with their right fists, striking the behemoth in the midriff. The high speed that they had been moving at when combined with their enhanced strength generated enough force to knock the behemoth off its feet and send it flying backwards. Eir was right behind them as the behemoth landed in a heap on the ground, down but not out.

"Time for the old SPECTRE standby," Sovaer said.

And with that the six of them started running up the ramp and hopefully to freedom.

"After them!" Azamoth screamed.

The behemoth let out a guttural roar and rolled over onto all fours, charging after the fleeing SPECTREs.

Sovaer smirked. "I think we made him mad."

"Azamoth or the behemoth?" Todd asked jokingly.

"I'd say both," Ronon said with a grin.

"Less talk and more running," Teyla said.

The six SPECTREs were already running flat out but the behemoth was already gaining on them. No matter how fast they were it was faster, and if it caught them it would literally eat them alive. They were getting close to the electric fence however, unfortunately if they could jump over it then it was a safe bet the behemoth could as well.

"We're not going to make it out of the disruption field before those things catch us," Todd said.

They thought their situation couldn't get any worse, apparently they were wrong. The first armour clad behemoth had been joined by another two and there were at least a dozen un-armoured ones behind them. There could be more or maybe less but they hadn't felt like slowing down to count them.

"We could call in the ship," Ronon suggested.

"That thing's too close," Sovaer replied. "Any weapons fire would get us too and if we stopped for the rings they would catch us."

"I have an idea," Eir said. "ISIS I need you to make a delivery."

"That's crazy Eir," Sovaer argued. "You won't last a minute against those things."

"It'll provide a distraction," she argued. "Now take the string and go. ISIS, lock onto the string outside the field and beam it into a containment field. Oh and make it the heavy weapons load out."

With that she threw the string as far as she could. With her enhanced strength it travelled far enough to go across the fence and just about land outside the containment field before being beamed away.

Overhead the transport shuttle briefly reappeared and dropped a large metallic shape in front of them. The back of the heavy weapons Titan opened like the Vanir exoskeletons to reveal the open interior and Eir leapt inside. As the back sealed shut and the Titan connected to her android mind the Titan came online. In a moment the Titan was powered up and ready to fight. Eir quickly emptied the rocket pods on the Titans shoulders at the behemoths, not bothering to aim. The air lit up with explosions as the creatures were engulfed by the blasts, some even being hit directly. The behemoths howled as their flesh was scorched by the explosions but none of them fell, they just kept coming. She was forced to use the boosters in the Titans feet to hop backwards while firing odd bursts into the charging behemoths nipping at their heels.

Overhead speakers throughout the base blared into life and annoyingly allowed the SPECTREs to hear Azamoth.

"I warned you," he mocked. "Now you will die alone on this world and I will get to perform an autopsy on your remains."

"This guy really needs to learn a lesson about how we do things," Sovaer said. "How many times do we have to tell him we're a team?"

"Sheppard you better be here already," Ronon yelled into the com.

"Keep your hair on chewie," Sheppard replied. "We're settling into orbit now."

When the SPECTREs had registered the presence of the base they had immediately informed the higher powers. Sheppard and Thor had immediately decided that a little pay back was in order after the fiasco on Calium. If anything it would provide a moral boost, something they were in desperate need of once word got around about the twenty kilometre monster they were facing. However a fleet as large as the Alliance offensive arm couldn't simply exit hyperspace over the planet, or even in the system, without being noticed, unlike the stealthy transport shuttle. As a result they had been forced to arrive far outside of the system and then approach cloaked using their sublight engines, something that took a lot of time.

"About damn time," Todd snapped. "We need help and the shuttles weapons are likely to take us out if we use them."

"I have a solution to that," Sheppard replied. "Oh by the way don't slow down."

"What are you planning to…"

Ronon found himself cut off as streams of yellow light descended from the sky. The precision railgun fire smothered the behemoths with their heavy shells. The solid chunks of metal may have thrown up dust and dirt when they impacted but they didn't explode, and as a result were safe for close fire situations like this.

"Eir, watch out!" Teyla yelled.

From the dust sprang an armoured behemoth, maybe using the shockwave from the impacts to propel itself forwards just a little further or maybe in a last ditch effort to claim its prey. The snarling behemoth collided with the Titan, sending both to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The savage beast clawed at the armoured hide of the Titan, its glowing clawed gauntlets leaving deep gashes as it scraped its claws across the dark metal. Inside the Titan Eir tried to ignore the blaring warning alarms as the internal computer registered more and more mechanisms failing as the behemoth tore them apart.

"Even your mechanized warriors are no match for my creations," Azamoth mocked.

"Eir, download and self destruct now!" Sovaer ordered.

Seeing she had no other option Eir downloaded her mind to one of the ships in orbit shortly after triggering a delayed self destruct. As the behemoth ripped away the chest plating to expose the android body beneath the naquadah generator that powered the Titan overloaded and detonated, destroying both the Titan and the behemoth.

The rest of the SPECTREs eventually made their way outside of the jamming field that was preventing them from being beamed out. They hadn't even bothered to go over the fence since there were still behemoths chasing after them, not to mention the hulks, vehicles and other reapers closing in on them from the flanks. Instead Jason simply opened fire with his energy cannon and made a hole big enough for them to run through in just a few shots. In a flash of light they were beamed back to their shuttle, leaving the fleet free to exact some retribution.

By now the base had raised a shield in response to the presence of the glaring visible fleet in orbit. The allied fleet stopped holding back and pounded the base with everything they had. Even with all the generators on the base feeding power into the shield capacitors, including those that powered weapons, the shield wasn't going to be able to hold for long against the relentless bombardment. Plasma beams and ions bolts tore through the atmosphere to continually strike the shield, creating a kaleidoscope of colours in the sky. It wouldn't be long now before the shield. Another minute maybe and it would fail and the base would be consumed in fire. At least it would have if the unexpected didn't happen.

In orbit of the planet, between the planet and the allied fleet, a massive hyperspace window opened and deposited a knife shaped ship they had come to fear. The _Doom Bringer_ had arrived.

Descending into the atmosphere the massive ship physically shielded the base from harm. Naturally Zarin couldn't resist gloating and it wasn't long before his voice sounded over subspace.

"Colonel Sheppard, Supreme Commander Thor, we meet again and so soon too. It seems that my last lesson about challenging me wasn't well learned so perhaps a refresher course in order."

The allies weren't about to stick around though. Despite Zarins gloating they had learned very well that facing that thing in battle was tantamount to suicide. With the SPECTREs safe and out of harms way the fleet jumped to hyperspace and headed for home.

* * *

**_Weir_**** – Bridge**

Colonel Sheppard sat slumped in his chair absorbing the news from the SPECTREs. Across the bridge Rodney just stood there and watched his friend, knowing that there were some troubles that kind words couldn't fix. The behemoth was not news that he welcomed since it meant that the Zarasians had yet another advantage in their corner. The Zarasians just seemed to keep getting stronger and stronger every time they faced off against them while the allies could only react in response.

They needed an edge. They desperately needed an edge, if they were going to turn this war around. Lately Zarin had been going at them with kid gloves on, completely confident in his supremacy over them. What made it worse what that confidence wasn't arrogance but actual fact. The Zarasians had who knows how many forces at their disposal and those forces kept on growing, becoming even more diverse. Those behemoths were proof of that, being the Zarasians answer to the Titans, and a good one at that. Those things would rip their soldiers to pieces in close combat and were even capable of doing tremendous damage to vehicles.

"If you are finished mopping there we have a task for you," an unfamiliar male voice said, rousing him from his thoughts. "The outcome of which will decide the outcome of your war."

In the middle of the bridge stood three beings in white robes that definitely hadn't been there a moment ago. Security forces quickly reacted by raising their weapons at the intruders and calling for reinforcements.

Janus glanced at his companions with a wry grin. "I knew this would happen."

* * *

**Please Review.**


	72. Welcome Interference

**_Weir_**** – Bridge**

"Who are you and what do you want?" Sheppard demanded of the intruders.

By now the bridge was filled with the ships security forces, all of whom were pointing particle magnums at the intruders. Railgun rifles were out of the question inside a space ship.

"I'm Janus and this is Oma and Morgan," Janus replied. "I trust you've heard of us?"

"Yes I have, we all have as it happens," Sheppard said. "Now what do you want?"

"Would you mind having your people lower their weapons?" Oma requested.

"Why?" McKay asked. "It's not like they can hurt you."

"You're right they can't and while I'm sure it helps you humans relax I don't think it a good idea when we're standing in front of a large window," Oma replied. "Then of course there is the visual created since we're here to help."

"Holster them," Sheppard ordered. "Now once again what do you want? The ascended do not just stop by for a chat, especially not ascended with your reputations."

"We have reputations?" Janus asked intrigued.

"The spiritual guide, the mad scientist and the freedom fighter," Sheppard said. "And I'm really not willing to repeat myself again."

The ascended paused as they took in the titles they had been given. Now matter how hard they thought about it they really couldn't deny that they were appropriate.

"You're aware that we offered to help the Liberum?" Morgan asked.

"Yes," McKay said, adding his voice to the conversation.

"Well you should know that we decided to go a little further than that," Morgan said.

"What are you planning to do?" Sheppard asked, unable to keep the sound of hope from his voice.

Janus frowned. "Actually we already did it, or rather we tried to."

"Go on," McKay prompted.

"We…tried to kill Zarin when he turned up on his flagship," Janus admitted.

"So what happened?" Sheppard asked. "You end up taking someone else down with him that you didn't intend to?"

"No, we failed," Morgan replied.

In the silence that followed you could hear a pin drop.

"How did you manage to fail?" Sheppard asked, shocked. "No wait don't tell me…the others intervened."

"Not exactly," Janus said. "One particular individual intervened and stopped all three of us. We put everything we had into getting past him and at Zarin and we couldn't even touch him."

"How is that even possible?" McKay asked. "Three ascended beings against one should have been no contest. Your powers should have been about the same."

"They should have but they weren't," Morgan said. "Somehow Vejovis, that's his name by the way, has been drawing powers from human followers in this galaxy to boost his own. Just like the Ori did."

"But surely the other Ancients would have done something about that if he's supposed to be one of you?" McKay asked.

"He's been hiding his strength," Oma said. "We all only just learned of it recently."

"Look I'm grateful that you three are willing to stick your necks out like this but I have to ask what this has to do with us," Sheppard said. "The way I see it we still have a war to fight and you aren't being allowed to change that by the others."

"Not the others, one individual. A fact which has a lot to do with you because it means that on top of everything else Zarin has an ascended being in his corner. Vejovis didn't do this because of the rules but of his own free will he wants to see Zarin succeed."

"So why hasn't he interfered before now?" Sheppard asked.

"Probably because he doesn't need to," McKay said. "The man is flying around on a twenty kilometre warship that could conquer a planet on its own. He doesn't need an ascended to help him, just to make sure other ascended beings don't try and stop him."

"You're right," Janus said. "However we do want to stop him and we need your help to do that. We can't stop Vejovis but you can."

"How?" Sheppard asked. "Tell us how and we'll do it."

"Then tell me why the others won't interfere," Thor said as he walked onto the bridge. The Asgardian had come aboard earlier to debrief the SPECTREs. "My old allies have made their stance on interfering quite clear."

"Hello Supreme Commander," Janus said. "And to answer your question they seem to be a little relaxed on dealing with individuals as of late. Adria, Anubis, they didn't mind seeing the back of them. We should be able to take out Zarin but you're right they won't like us simply removing the Zarasians from the board entirely."

"That will be down to you," Morgan said.

"Not an easy task," Thor noted. "Though Zarins removal will upset the Zarasian command structure."

"So how do we weaken Vejovis?" Sheppard asked.

"How much do you know about the Ori?" Morgan asked. "Specifically how they acquire power."

"They sap the energy from their followers I believe," McKay said. "That allows them to obtain more power than they would naturally have."

"Yes that is basically it," Morgan said. "However there are limitations. They essentially tap the followers like batteries, acquiring a miniscule amount in comparison to their natural stores. But if the flow isn't constant then they will run out of power because they can't store it. There is also a range limit to the power flow so Vejovis can only draw from followers in the same galaxy as him. That is the reason the Ori needed to convert your galaxy if they were to defeat us."

"So you want us to remove the followers from this galaxy or at least show them the truth," Sheppard surmised.

"Correct."

"Now why do I get the feeling you know where the base is?"

"Because we do," Janus said.

"How?" Sheppard said.

Janus looked at his fellow ascended.

"You might as well tell them," Morgan said. "We all know you want to show off your genius."

"It was a team effort but I'll explain," Janus said. "We accessed supply records for the war with the Wraith. We put the pieces together and discovered that Vejovis, along with an ally of his named Cura, secretly kept two outposts active despite claiming that they were deliberately destroyed."

"Accessed where exactly…" McKay asked with that look in his eye when he thinks he is about to find out some revolutionary technology.

"Our central database," Janus replied.

"The central database is the one that was originally on Atlantis right?" McKay replied.

"Yes it is."

"But I've been through that database a thousand times and there were no such records," McKay argued. "ISIS never found them in her copy either."

"Not that you could see there weren't."

"You hid it?!"

"Of course, you don't think we would leave all of our records and technological secrets for anyone to find did you?"

McKay pouted. "Well no but it would have been nice to know about it."

"You'll never be able to access the hidden database even if you do know about it. Not without our help anyway, and no I'm not going to just give it to you."

"Why not?" McKay complained. "Some of that stuff could really help us."

"Because you don't need it," Janus argued. "You have the technology of the Asgard already and you've built upon that. Our technology wouldn't add much that you don't already have or can't learn yourselves eventually. You know how to charge a ZPM and eventually you'll discover how to make one. You have drones which don't have phase technology but have everything else and eventually will even have that. Your race is advancing in leaps and bounds already. You don't need us to tell you things you can discover for yourselves."

"And now back to the matter at hand," Sheppard said. "Where are these two outposts?"

"One of them is on Averia," Janus said.

"You mean the one that they discovered in that mountain?" Sheppard interrupted.

"Yes."

"So that woman in the recording was this Cura."

"Correct," Oma said. "The other is in Zarasian territory. We'll give you the co-ordinates."

"Oh great," McKay said. "I knew it was too good to be true."

"So you're sending us into the lions den," Sheppard summarised.

"Vejovis won't have the Zarasians on his side," Janus said. "Vejovis is in Zarins corner not the other way round. He may be protecting Zarin but Zarin isn't protecting him."

"So just Atlantis level defences for us to deal with?"

"I didn't say it was going to be easy."

"What information can you give us on the outpost and its defences?" Thor asked.

"Its location," Oma replied.

"That's all?" McKay complained. "There could be anything waiting there for us."

"We'd have to take this entire fleet, plus the _Sagittarius_, with us to cover all the bases," Sheppard added.

"As a minimum," Thor agreed.

"I'm sorry," Oma said sincerely. "But there is a limit to what we can do. Anymore would only give Vejovis leverage to use against us and stop this before it even begins."

"You mean the others don't object to Vejovis going to the dark side?" Sheppard asked.

"Ascended politics is…complicated," Oma said uncomfortably.

"Well I can understand that at least."

"The co-ordinates are in your computer," Janus said. "Good luck."

With that the three ascended vanished. One moment they were there and the next they were gone. It was as if they had never even been there at all.

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_**

"You know Azamoth," Zarin said casually. "Sometimes I wonder whether I give you far too much freedom."

"I'm sorry Etere," Azamoth said, not willing to look his leader in the eye.

"Oh don't be Azamoth. This happens to be one of the times where I am happy with the direction you took."

Azamoth looked up sharply. "You are?"

Zarin chuckled. "You need to think more long term my Cyber Lord. They may have seen your latest little creation but you scared them with its very existence. Never underestimate the power of fear Azamoth. Scare the enemy enough with what you could do and you need not fight at all. You also found a way to detect their infiltrators."

"Thank you Etere but there is something you should know," Azamoth replied nervously.

"Oh?"

"The SPECTREs acquired the control device used on the stage one prototype," Azamoth explained. "They may be able to deduce from that how we turned the population of our latest conquest against them."

Zarin frowned. "That is a pity but no matter."

"Etere?"

"Remember that the control devices were never originally meant for infiltration purposes, merely bringing the natives under control while we consolidate our position. Though I am pleased that you came up with such a creative use for them their end purpose remains unchanged."

"Of course Etere, but won't this affect our plans?"

"Not in the least bit. When we begin to use the strings on mass against target worlds then they will be discovered anyway. Now they just have another reason to be afraid." Zarin smiled a predatory grin. "If we use enough of them then we won't even need to land a single reaper. Entire worlds will tear themselves apart as the people find themselves fighting their own instead of an enemy."

Zarins monologue was interrupted by a glowing mass of light appearing in the room.

"Remember your task Zarin," Vejovis said, scowling at the human in front of him. "The destruction of the Wraith and the unification of this galaxy under one power is your goal. You are not to harm innocents."

"My apologies ancestor," Zarin said sincerely. "What is it you would have us do?"

"Serve your purpose and eventually my children," Vejovis replied. "Use the strings to bring the populations under control until my children are ready to take up their mantle but do not employ their victims as a weapon. There was a reason I had you program them to preserve life Azamoth, remember that."

"Of course ancestor," Azamoth replied, bowing his head once more.

"You creations are exceptional. Using the offspring of the Wraith against them is a masterstroke and one I very much approve of."

"In that case might I request that you allow us to use them against our enemies?" Zarin requested.

"Hmm, very well then. It would be a fitting method to destroy the Wraith, though I doubt that you really need it with the forces at your disposal. The number of reapers on this ship alone is several times the entire population of the Wraith. Remember their purpose. The strings are needed to control the human populations until my children are ready to take up their role. Serve your purpose and you will retain your position as leader of the military and you Azamoth will be allowed to continue your research."

"Thank you ancestor, but what about our other enemies?"

"Those who stand with the Wraith after all their kind have done will share their fate. Do what you will with them but remember that you still need to unify this galaxy."

"I will ancestor."

"Pegasus is your testing ground Zarin. Succeed here and you will go even further, there are other galaxies out there that I intend to see brought back into the fold. My people's former capital not so long ago is located in a galaxy thousands of times bigger than this one. When you finish here and my children take control of the humans that will be your next task will be to seize that one."

"That will not be an easy task. That galaxy is a long way from here and will take time for my forces to get to."

"It is a future project Zarin not an immediate concern. Your ships may require a long time to get there but a ship like this one can make it there in a matter of days. When my children finally reveal themselves you will also have superior technology to aid you."

"Of course ancestor, but you should know that there is a more pressing concern in this galaxy that hinders our progress. Many worlds have been discovered to be lacking populations despite signs that they were recently inhabited. I suspect that our enemies have been moving them to another location out of our reach."

"You know I cannot do anything about that Zarin," Vejovis snapped, sparks flaring about his body. "This is your problem not mine. If you cannot search a small galaxy like this one then you will most certainly fail to take one far larger. Perhaps your usefulness is coming to an end?"

"No ancestor," Zarin spluttered. Normally he wasn't afraid of anything but he knew that an ascended being was capable of vaporising him with a thought, and Vejovis was far more powerful than a regular ascended. "I merely meant that it would be faster if I knew where they are. I remember that there are rules that limit your involvement."

"Rules that will no longer concern me when my children take control," Vejovis replied. "But for now they are necessary. The others are not all in agreement with what I have planned but when eventually their own rules will stop them from interfering. You should know though Zarin that not all of them obey the rules, I had to save you quite recently."

Zarin visibly paled, after all he had done to cheat death and achieve a form of immortality he was powerless against an ascended. "They tried to kill me?"

"Tried and failed. They know now that I am too powerful and that I won't let you be stopped. Your task will be completed."

"Thank you ancestor. But won't they try and find other ways to interfere?"

"Of course," Vejovis replied, as though it were obvious. "And I fully expect them to. But you need not worry about them, I am already using their interference to my advantage. For every move they make against you I will have leverage to convince the others to let me restore balance and help you."

"What will you give us?" Azamoth asked. His curiosity at the prospect of acquiring Alteran technology allowed him to temporarily overcome his fear of upsetting this all powerful being.

"Not technology," Vejovis replied. "The rules will not allow it, but I can give you something equivalent to what they give your enemies."

"Thank you ancestor. Would that maybe include a location of an inhabited world where the humans have been moved to?"

"No. I can tell you for nothing that attacking that world would be foolish. It houses civilians of powerful races, some of whom were once my people's allies. If you anger them by harming their civilians you will be in for a world of pain that will jeopardise the return of my race to power. If that happens then I will finish you myself, am I clear?"

"Yes ancestor. But if I not able to attack that world how will unite the galaxy?"

"Stick to your original plan. Strike fear into the hearts of your enemies with your capabilities and they will not want to fight you. They will surrender rather than fight and incur terrible losses. Besides there are other targets for you to attack that are already known to you."

"Yes ancestor."

"Very good, now I have matters to attend to. My brethren are making their moves and I need to make my own in response."

Vejovis vanished in a flash.

"He is not quite what I expected," Azamoth said.

"He is an all powerful being that can destroy both of us with a twitch of his finger," Zarin replied. "What did you expect?"

"He is a contradiction, he wants us to crush the enemy and yet save the civilians. He wants us to destroy the Wraith even though they are no longer a threat and yet he will not have us anger his people's former allies who are a threat."

"He wants to reunite the galaxy," Zarin explained. "His people once dominated not only this galaxy but others as well. He seeks to restore that order and will use us to do this. But he also wants to see the end of the Wraith who he despises. I told you before Azamoth we have a task to fulfil. You and I will either remain the leaders of the Zarasians, the military arm of the new Alteran Empire, or we will die."

"We cannot fail Etere. They cannot hope to match our military might."

"I hope not. Now have as many of the stage two models, control devices and command level reapers ready for deployment as possible. Once we have consolidated our position on this new world I want to move on to stronger targets."

"Which target would that be? Averia, the Wraith world, the Jaffa world or maybe another assault on Celestia?"

"We shall see what the ancestor has to give us first, and then I will decide where we will strike."

"When did you first meet him Etere?" Azamoth asked. "You never did tell me."

"Oh long ago, after I was exiled and started to prepare the Empire for conquering the galaxy. It seemed he took a liking to my idea of uniting the galaxy and wiping out the Wraith and chose to modify our plans to match his own."

"Does it ever bother you that we could have succeeded even without him."

"I take great pleasure in the fact that he could never realize his ambitions without my help. For now that is enough."

* * *

**Atlantis**

The great city ship sat peacefully on the ocean surface. Since the start of the war the great city had not seen much in the way of action or excitement that she had in previous years while under the control of the people of Earth. She was not a wonder technological construction but she wasn't a fighter and as such she wouldn't be seeing the same amount of front line combat as her sister Borealis would be. While she was not actively participating in the war though the city had not been forced into obscurity and was still fulfilling an important role. The city had become a symbol for unity and co-operation amongst powerful races and now her halls were bustling with activity. While Concordia was a world filled with diplomats and a symbol of peace Atlantis was the scientist's playground. Inside  
her many science labs Asgard, Vanir and Tau'ri researchers worked on a myriad of different projects that could hopefully bear fruit and provide new technologies for the benefit of their respective races.

One of the labs had been handed over to the Asgard and Vanir for their android body research as well as producing replacement bodies for those that had lost them. Most of the time this was not necessary as no Asgard had lost their body, until recently. Since the battle on Calium multiple Asgard and Vanir had needed knew bodies and quite recently a certain Asgard SPECTRE.

The offensive fleet had decided to stop by here and drop off their latest souvenir taken from the Zarasians and use the facilities at the same time while they planned their assault on Vejovis' base. It had taken time but eventually her new body had been manufactured and Eir was downloaded into it.

"Welcome back," Thor said when the download was complete and Eir finally opened her artificial eyes. "How do you feel?"

"Like I died and then came back," Eir said. "I hate closing my eyes and then finding myself in a new body."

"Better than a constantly degrading one," Thor retorted. "Besides I've died and gone through more bodies than you over the millennia."

"That isn't a good thing you know," Eir replied.

"No but it puts your own problem into perspective."

"If you say so, where are the others? Did they make it out?"

"They all got out safely. They were ordered to get some rest before our next mission instead of getting in peoples way."

"Our next mission? You're coming with us?"

"Actually you are coming with us. There is a full briefing packet for you regarding our next mission."

"What about the device recovered? It was recovered wasn't it? I would hate to think I self destructed for nothing."

"It is currently being taken apart and put back together again by our scientists they think you have discovered something quite interesting."

"Oh?"

"It appears to interface with the brain stem and override the subject's nervous system, isolating the brain and taking complete control of the subject's body. The individual units appear to possess an ability to operate networked to one another or independently following a set of pre-programmed commands."

"Surprisingly complicated for a simple control collar."

"Considering that it was still scuttling about when we brought it in and tried to attack several people I think we can safely say it isn't a simple control collar."

"Then what is it?"

"We'll know that when we decrypt the core command subroutines."

"So now what do we do?"

"Now we take a trip into Zarasian space."

* * *

**Zarasian Space – Ancient Outpost**

The fleet that emerged over the planet was a powerful one. On top of the forty five capital ships of the allied offensive fleet there was also the _Sagittarius_, _Nightingale_ and _Aror_. These additional ships were deemed necessary since the entire fleet was delving deep into suspected Zarasian territory. No one could actually say for sure what space the Zarasians claimed as their own. It was largely suspected that like the Travellers the Zarasians were mostly space based and so they had a large space fleet and their civilisation was highly mobilised. There was the possibility that they could have a number of Zarasian battle groups descending on them at any moment so they weren't taking any chances. On top of that there was the fact that if this planet was indeed the home of Vejovis and his followers then it was likely to be well defended. Taking on a facility with Lantean level defences was not something to be taken lightly even with the advanced technology at the disposal of the fleet.

The planet was certainly not that different from most planets that had been given a stargate, having been terraformed long ago to support life. There was a space gate in orbit of the planet, hanging between the planet and its single small moon, but it was on the far side of the planet from the co-ordinates given to them by the infamous ascended trio. Most likely this was a safety precaution should the Wraith come through the gate while the defences were down. Of course because of those presumed defences the fleet actually found nothing remarkable upon arrival. They hadn't really expected to though, Vejovis and Cura had been bound to build in some stealth features into their secret base.

The solution had been to send down a flight of puddle jumpers to the co-ordinates in a search pattern. When the small craft got close enough the landscape below shimmered and several structures came into view. Most of them bore a resemblance to the various Lantean era structures they had encountered over the years, like the outpost where Janus had constructed the Attero device. One slightly disconcerting structure that came into view was a circular hatch that looked suspiciously like one of the drone launchers on a city ship.

With the sensor blockers offline a beaming lock could be established and it wasn't long before teams from the _Sagittarius_ started appearing throughout the facility in flashes of light. As the teams searched they discovered, to their surprise, absolutely nothing. The entire facility had been abandoned and left to gather dust. They did find a ZPM that was getting low after all these millennia and a few hundred drones, which came as a pleasant surprise but that was it. Even the computers were empty of anything useful, lacking anything useful aside from an automated program to protect the base if anyone got near the base and a friendly recognition program. There wasn't even a control chair to manually fire the drones.

"Well this is a bust," Sheppard noted.

Rodney however could only see the positives of the situation. "You know there were days when finding a ZPM that had a bit of juice in it and a few hundred drones was a good thing."

"And there aren't any Zarasians nearby," Xander added.

"And we potentially have a secret base to use in Zarasian territory," Thor added.

"Well when you put it like that okay, but you know what I mean," Sheppard replied. "This isn't what we actually need right now, although the ZPM isn't a bad consolation prize."

"No I know what you mean," Xander admitted. "We need every advantage we can get."

"Have we found anything that might give us a hint on where to go from here?" Sheppard asked. "Somehow I doubt that we're going to find anything new on Averia after all these years that your people haven't found yet."

"Our teams have been combing the facility but have yet to find anything," Thor replied. "The facility doesn't even have an internal transport system although it does have a working ring platform, which for some reason we can't connect to."

"Figures," Rodney said. "The place isn't big enough to need one...wait a minute what did you say?"

"There is a working ring platform we can't connect to," Thor repeated.

"Hang on, surely if you can't connect to it then it's not working," Sheppard said.

"On the contrary," Thor replied. "All scans indicate the device is fully functional however we cannot lock onto it using our own rings but it will lock onto our own rings. We also can't shut them down to perform alterations to the command protocols."

"So it works but doesn't go to our ships?" McKay summarised. "Interesting."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Rodney?" Sheppard asked, a grin creeping its way onto his face.

Rodney's own face mirrored that grin. "It would make sense. We've seen it before after all on other secret sites, Avalon for instance."

"ISIS," Sheppard said. "Deactivate all the rings in the fleet. I recommend you have the _Aror_ do the same thing Admiral."

"I'll send the message now," Xander replied, his curiosity stopping him from asking what was going on since he wanted to see this play out.

* * *

In a little while all the rings in the fleet, and there were a lot of them as it happened, were offline. With nothing in orbit for the rings in the outpost to lock onto they locked onto the only ones they could. The six SPECTREs had been chosen for this foray into the unknown, it was after all what they did best. They would of course only form the initial scouting party, with Thor, Sheppard, McKay and Xander following soon after providing it was safe of course.

As the six rings dropped back into the floor the SPECTREs found themselves in a small darkened chamber. Looking around they saw no signs of any apparent technology but there was a closed door, and more importantly air. Detecting no pathogens in the air and no immediate danger they reported their findings and were told to press on since they couldn't scan outside the room.

Using their enhanced strength they were able to pry the door open a crack and let in some fresh air. The moment the door opened sensors were able to penetrate deeper into the complex since apparently the door was the only thing shielding it from sensors and more importantly no immediate hostiles or dangerous pathogens were detected.

Sending back the all clear signal the rings activated again and the VIPs ringed down into the subterranean complex. Just as the SPECTREs forced the door open far enough for someone to slip through and the rings activated the complex finally reacted to their presence. The doors slammed shut, nearly taking several fingers off in the process, and locked in place with a metallic clunk. Simultaneously the panels in the walls retracted and slid open, revealing figures standing in alcoves.

As twin red lights flashed into life on the figures heads and a green crystal in the centre of their chests started to glow they stepped forward out of the shadows and into the now fully lit room. They were tall, easily six foot, and they definitely weren't human. They were androids. You could tell by their silver skull faces, their smooth metallic bodies, the bulging black artificial muscles in their limbs and, if that wasn't enough, the fact that the two glowing red lights were their eyes. What made everyone of the SPECTREs immediately move to form a protective circle around the VIPs were the Asuran style energy weapons clutched the androids hands.

"Oh crap," McKay muttered.

Above them a metallic orb that looked like an supersized kino, with a glowing red light emanating from its core and lens, descended from the ceiling and started speaking in a metallic chirpy voice.

"Intruders detected. Scanning. Hostiles detected."

* * *

**Please Review.**


	73. Meet Overseer

The orb in front of the group emitted a green light from the bulbous lens on its front that swept across the group, scanning them much like the Atlantis medical scanner.

"Scan complete. Life forms count is ten. Two Synthetics, four Potentials, two Deficient's and two Wraith. Eliminating Wraith."

The androids eyes flashed once in unison before they all spoke in a deep steely voice. "Engaging enemy targets."

As one they raised their energy pistols and pointed them at the two Wraith. In a move of camaraderie the other SPECTREs immediately raised their own weapons in response, ready to protect their friends. Before any of them could react though Xander, whose mind had been moving at a light year a minute, stepped forward and started speaking to the androids.

"Hold your fire, all units stand down now," he barked in his voice of command. "Designate Wraith as non hostile."

"Order confirmed Inheritor," the orb chirped as the androids lowered their weapons, before raising them again. "Error. Order conflicts with primary directives. All Wraith must be eliminated."

Once again the tension rose and both sides were fully prepared to engage one another.

"Wait," Rodney yelled having caught up himself and, more importantly, figured a way out of this mess. "Scan Wraith and compare against DNA records."

"Order confirmed Inheritor. Scanning. Error. DNA does not conform to records. Registering a two percent difference with established records. Processing."

Rodney sighed in relief. Two percent, it was enough of a difference. The difference between humans and apes and enough to give the AI pause.

"Processing complete. Re-designating life forms as New Wraith. Designating New Wraith as non hostile. Assigning status level as Synthetic. Threat neutralised. Standing down guardians."

The AI's red glow and the androids eyes changed from their hostile red into a much calmer blue. With that single change the tension in the room vanished.

"Good," Sheppard said. "And now that you're no longer trying to kill us would you mind filling us in as to what's going on here?"

"The guardians were not trying to kill you Inheritor," the AI pointed out. "They were merely neutralising the Wraith infestation."

Todd and Jason growled at him. They didn't like being called an infestation.

"Okay let me make one thing clear here mood light," Sheppard replied angrily. "They are not an infestation."

"Correct Inheritor," the AI replied.

"Okay then, thank you."

"They are New Wraith," the AI continued. "The Wraith are the infestation."

"Moving on," Sheppard said exasperatedly. "Why did you take orders from Rodney and Admiral Xander?"

"Would Rodney and Admiral Xander be the two Inheritors that ordered me to stand down and run a comparison scan?" the AI asked.

"Yes."

"Because they are Inheritors Inheritor," the AI replied, as if it were obvious.

"Want some help Sheppard?" Rodney asked, barely suppressing a grin.

"If it means I get a straight answer then yes please," Sheppard replied.

"Okay then…um…what is your name?" Rodney asked the AI.

"I have no name Inheritor," the AI replied. "I am the artificial intelligence charged with controlling the guardians and servitors and generally overseeing this facility."

"Overseer it is then. Please identify the people here by their categories."

Overseer proceeded to do so. It turned out that Sheppard, McKay, Xander and Sovaer were Inheritors, Teyla and Ronon were Deficient's, Thor and Eir were Synthetics and naturally Todd and Jason were New Wraith.

"I'm presuming all the Inheritors have the ATA gene," Rodney said, looking to Xander and Sovaer for conformation.

The two Averians nodded in response, which meant that Teyla and Ronon were Deficient's because they were human but lacked the ATA gene.

"You two have the gene?" Sheppard asked, surprised that he was only just finding this out.

"It's only natural Colonel," Xander explained. "We are a product of the Ancestors after all and they did intend for us to fight the Wraith. Presumably they also believed that we would need the gene if we ever encountered any of their technology in the fight against the Wraith."

"Somehow though I never expected one of those things to be a talking glow ball," Sovaer replied.

Overseer apparently realised that it was being made fun of because it briefly flashed a deep crimson before returning to blue.

"No offense Overseer," Sovaer added hastily, very aware of the fact that the guardians were still present.

"What is the ranking order here?" Thor asked curiously, though he had a sinking suspicion he knew what it would be.

"In descending order, Inheritor, Overseer, Deficient, Synthetic, then New Wraith, with the last three being of equal ranking," Overseer replied. "You have the lowest rank here Synthetic and have no authority whatsoever."

It was hard to tell given the fact that Asgard had completely black eyes but Thor appeared to be giving the AI a look of intense dislike. It wasn't very surprising, he was the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet after all and even his former allies the Alterans would never have said he had no authority whatsoever.

Instead of getting angry though Thor chose to respond calmly in his own language. "I am Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard Fleet and while I may inhabit an artificial body my mind is completely Asgard and alive."

While the others heard this in their own language, translated automatically by the inbuilt translator, the AI recognised it as Asgardian, understood it and more importantly recognised the significance of the words. The AI backed away from Thor and its inner glow actually became slightly paler.

"Apologies Supreme Commander," the AI said hurriedly. "Re-designating as Asgard. You now have ranking and authority equivalent to that of Inheritor."

"Thank you Overseer."

"Please follow me to the control centre," the AI chirped as it turned and started moving down the corridor.

Ronon, Teyla, Todd and Jason attempted to walk down the corridor only to be stopped by the guardians.

"Deficient's and New Wraith do not have authorisation to access the control room," Overseer said without even bothering to turn round.

"Let them through Overseer," Sheppard practically growled. He was going to need to get ISIS to teach this AI some manners.

"Of course Inheritor," Overseer replied. "Deficient's and New Wraith can come with the Inheritors permission."

"Anything else I'm not allowed to do?" Ronon asked sarcastically.

"I do not need to answer your questions Deficient."

"Don't call me a Deficient."

"You were not gifted with my creator's legacy nor do you possess it in a dormant state, therefore you are a Deficient."

"What would happen if you were destroyed?"

"I do not need to answer your questions Deficient."

"I want to hear the answer to that one," Sheppard added.

"Why didn't you say so Inheritor?" Overseer asked. "I will be happy to give you the answer. In the unlikely event of the destruction of this unit my personality matrix will be placed in a new unit. Operations of this facility will not be compromised."

"Good to know," Ronon said.

In a single swift and practised movement that would have made a secret service agent proud Ronon drew his particle magnum, set it to incinerate, aimed and then fired at Overseer. Instead of taking a massive chunk out of the side of the floating orb though the blast struck a shimmering green force field. In response Overseer's internal glow turned a deep crimson while the hovering orb stopped in his tracks and turned on the spot until its lens was facing Ronon.

"Protocols state that attempts to damage or impair the functions of this facility will be prevented," Overseer said darkly. "Attempts at such action by Deficient's will be met with lethal force."

To emphasise his point a red pulse of energy shot from the lens to strike the floor in front of Ronon.

"However," it continued. "Your previous inquiry means that you were aware that your action would not affect the operations of this facility therefore this directive is not applicable."

It rotated back around and continued on down the long corridor.

"Ronon," Teyla warned when she saw him lining up another shot.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Don't do it big guy," Sovaer said. "It won't make you feel better if you end up getting shot."

The group passed numerous doors but they all remained closed to them. Eventually they arrived at a large door much thicker than the last one at the end of the corridor.

"Welcome to the control room," Overseer chirped cheerfully, as the heavy door rumbled open.

The open door revealed a spacious room much like the secondary control room of a city ship. Consoles and viewing screens lined the walls, all of which were clearly made using Lantean level technology. The centre of the room was dominated by a holographic projection system similar to the one in the hologram room of Atlantis. In response to the ATA genes of those entering power flowed through conduits and the room came to life, overhead lighting coming on and consoles lighting up.

"From here Inheritors will have full control over this facility barring defensive weaponry," Overseer informed them.

"Why not the defences?" Sheppard asked.

"Defences are entirely automated to safeguard this installation from destruction due to inability to sufficiently utilise them."

"What defences does this installation possess?" Xander asked.

"While access to the defences and information relating to them is restricted Inheritor I can inform you that they consist of numerous beam weapons and drone weapons," Overseer replied cryptically. "They are stationed at numerous hidden positions around the planet."

"Exactly what else does the rank of Inheritor allow me to do?" Sheppard asked.

"As an Inheritor you have full access to the systems of this installation and subsequently all the facilities it possesses," Overseer replied. "You are also entitled to access the legacy left to you by my creators."

"What legacy?"

"Knowledge."

That little golden nugget perked everyone up. No matter how annoying the AI may have been thus far they would gladly put up with it to acquire Alteran knowledge.

"What knowledge?" Rodney asked eagerly.

"Theoretical information for plasma weapons, shields, hyperdrives, ship designs and a complete list of stargate addresses."

You could practically feel the disappointment radiating from everyone.

"Well that's useful," Rodney said sarcastically.

"My behavioural subroutines suggest that you are unhappy with the legacy Inheritor," Overseer said. "Records left to me by my creators suggest that you should in fact be pleased with the legacy given the threat presented by the Wraith."

"We already have that legacy Overseer," Xander explained. "My people discovered the Ark on our home planet several centuries ago."

"I see. Processing. Is this the address for your home planet?"

The holographic projector activated and displayed a stargate address.

"That's it," Xander replied. "Although we were never able to get another stargate to establish a connection."

"My records indicate that an alteration to the stargate dialling program was made that prevented a connection from being established except for the stargate on Atlantis or in this facility."

"This facility has a stargate?"

"Yes Inheritor, its address is the first listing in the Ark stargate address archive. It is currently offline and thus unusable but can be reactivated. Once online it will override the gate in orbit."

"Well that explains why we never found this place. What are the specs of this place anyway?"

The hologram changed to show a floor plan of the installation, with a flashing area to indicate their current location at the heart of the installation. It was surprisingly expansive, consisting of a large network of corridors leading to multiple chambers. Most of them were not particularly big but one of which was incredibly large and, if the hologram was anything to go, by several kilometres long.

"What's in there?" Sheppard asked, indicating the large chamber.

"That is the starship hanger," Overseer answered. "It was made to be large enough to hold the largest of Alteran built ships, not including a city ship."

"I don't suppose there is anything in there?" Sheppard asked hopefully.

"It is currently empty."

"Figures."

"You said this installation is defended by drone and beam weapons," Thor said. "Would it be possible for us to relocate these weapons or dismantle them for study?"

"Apologies Supreme Commander but no one of Inheritor level or lower is allowed to access the defensive weapons or know the location of the emplacements. All maintenance work is performed by the servitors."

"What are the servitors?"

"Synthetics similar to the guardians that are not equipped with the guardians defensive or offensive technologies. They are responsible for the maintenance of this installation."

"Can the guardians or servitors be studied or produced in greater numbers?"

"No, while new synthetics can be produced there is a set limit that can be kept online and they will not operate outside of this installation."

"Nice try Thor," Sheppard said.

Thor however would not be put off quite so easily. "Are we allowed to upgrade this installation with our own technology?"

"Processing. Unknown. Primary protocols require that no changes be made that might compromise the security of this installation. What upgrades would you like to make to this installation?"

"Long range sensors, industrial beaming technology for the hanger, matter synthesisers and additional defensive weaponry. Also expansion of the facilities."

"Processing. Additional defensive weaponry would have to conform to stealth protocols and be solely controlled by this installation, as would sensor technology. Industrial beams and matter synthesisers can be installed within this installation provided that they do no jeopardize stealth functions as a result of use. Expansion is possible but can not be performed by servitors. Additional servitor and guardian units will also be required as new sections are brought online."

"Thank you Overseer."

"So you mean…" Sheppard started.

"We can make a secret base in Zarasian space," Xander finished.

"One with Lantean and current Asgard level technology," Rodney added.

"Not a total loss after all then," Thor noted.

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_**

"What can I do for you Ancestor?" Zarin asked.

"I have news for you Zarin," Vejovis said. "The others have indeed interfered and as I predicted they have steered your enemies towards my secret outpost and that I support your ambitions."

"Do you want me to dispatch a fleet to remove their taint ancestor?"

"No need Zarin. I have preparations of my own in hand to deal with that matter. I have come to give you some information that would be beneficial to you. If things progress further then more will become available, although I would be annoyed if that became necessary."

"Thank you ancestor. What is the information?"

"You have recently encountered two human like races, the Jaffa and the Liberum. You were led to believe they that are natives to this galaxy that came to power with the downfall of the Wraith and the enemy of the Tau'ri, but that is not in fact the truth."

"They are not from this galaxy, but the Tau'ri home galaxy," Zarin surmised, his eyes widening. "They are their allies."

"They are indeed their allies but only the Jaffa are from the same galaxy as the Tau'ri. The Liberum are from a galaxy much, much further away from here."

"How did they get here? Are their ships really that fast?"

"No, they utilised a device similar to stargate, only much larger, to bring their ships here. Your aim though is not to destroy such a device but merely to destroy the Liberum forces. Do you understand what I am saying Zarin?"

"That they are our enemies and not a race in this galaxy to be subjugated. That we simply need to eliminate them, by any means possible?" Zarin asked hopefully, knowing what confirmation would mean.

"Correct."

"It shall be done ancestor."

"See to it then Zarin. Performed correctly and this task will be its own reward."

"I understand ancestor."

"Oh and you should know that the Liberum have retreated to a system nearby to the one you first encountered them in. Look around a little and you should find them easily enough."

Zarin smiled a predatory grin. "Thank you very much ancestor."

* * *

The Installation, as certain members of the allied forces had taken to calling it, had not been instantly fully occupied. It could be called paranoia but the allies had no interest in simply moving in right away until they made a few important changes and were certain that it was secure. While they were quite pleased with their discovery it didn't change the fact that it was not what they had been looking for when they came here. They still didn't know where Vejovis had his secret base that housed the followers that were fuelling his incredible powers. They didn't know where the base was, how many followers were there or how well defended it was. It was arguably quite a presumption on their part that they were operating on the belief that there was only one base to find and not several.

The one small commitment they had made to the base was to relocate Borealis so that the base ship was orbiting the planet in geo-synchronous orbit. Of course the base ship had entered stealth mode the moment they had entered system so that they wouldn't be detected by the base. Paranoia extended to the possibility that when Vejovis had seen fit to remove this place from the Ark legacy he had also left a few surprises for them. It honestly wouldn't have surprised them to learn that Overseer had been programmed to wait until a certain number of people had appeared on the base before slaughtering them all, cleaning up the mess and then waiting for the process to repeat all over again. Admittedly that was one of the wilder theories floating around but quite frankly it was hard to put much faith in the potential actions of someone who was backing the single most hated man in the entire galaxy.

The first thing they had done was to set up transport lock boosters throughout the entire facility. This meant that they could bypass the interference created by the shielding in place and actually beam their people out if the need arose. They now had people crawling through the facility searching for something that would indicate foul play. Bypassing security lockouts on the computers was proving to be difficult but it was actually possible and all they needed was time, a scarce resource at the best of times. They had found out that the installation was powered by a single ZPM, one that hadn't seen much use in the last few millennia and as a result had a fair amount of juice remaining. It was also possible to tie in their generators to power the installation but it wasn't possible to remove the ZPM.

Whenever they had even suggested it Overseer had said, "Those of Inheritor rank or lower do not have the authority to alter the primary power source of this installation." And that had been the last word on the matter or rather it was the only thing Overseer had been willing to say. It may have been an AI but it was rather reluctant to offer much in the way of conversation being solely dedicated to its duties.

In many ways the AI was actually more of a hindrance than it was a benefit. It was useful in that it could provide instant information about the installation as well automatic control of the various systems. However that particular advantage was also a double edged sword because it meant that in an instant Overseer could also lock down every section, drain the air supply, set the base to self destruct and even start firing on the orbiting fleet. Until they could access the AI's base code and determine its intentions for them they were not willing to install so much as a new light bulb. They were also trying to check everything the AI told them on the chance that it was lying to them.

Borealis was in stealth mode, the fleet was cloaked, technicians were scouring the computer core and armed teams were searching through the various rooms of the installation. Plans were being drawn up to make changes to the installation but not a single new piece of technology had as of yet been brought onto the planet that was a part of the upgrade. The stargate hadn't even been switched on yet, since no one wanted to find out that it had been rigged to explode when powered. Of course with the addition of the one aboard Borealis the planet already had two gates so a third wasn't considered to be a priority.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

In a darkened chamber not a single creature stirred. The room had been long since unused, at least by normal people, but had been sealed and so not allowed to gather dust. In many ways this room was quite similar to the control room of the installation that was governed by the AI designated as the Overseer. The consoles in this room though were all dimmed but active which indicated that they were operating and performing tasks in the background, unlike those in the installation when they were first encountered. Even Atlantis when it been found slumbering didn't have consoles that weren't completely shut down as the city slumbered which surely meant that no one was present, and yet there wasn't a single sign of life. There was no sound of gentle footsteps or distant whispers that suggested the presence of people unseen but somewhere. Of course it was impossible to actually hear any sounds at all since there was no atmosphere to allow the sound waves to travel. Vacuum prevailed here, air having never even known the corridors of this particular installation except for the control room.

There was air in the control room, what kind was of no consequence since it was not for breathing but instead for hearing. It was only here by the whim of Vejovis, so that he could ask a question and hear an answer without having to go through the inefficient process of having to type in questions and read replies. No conversation was so much faster when it came to his little visits and today it was time for one of them.

In his ascended, and yet humanoid, form he appeared in the control room. There was no need for deception anymore so he did not bother to conceal his true power, not that he had ever bothered to in this place. This was his place, his special place and, above all, his secret place. No one knew about this place, Zarin certainly didn't but then again he had never told Zarin much more than he needed to know. The other ascended, even those that saw the merits of his plans, didn't know about it but once again it wasn't that hard to keep it secret from them. If you knew how then you could easily hide yourself from the view of even an ascended being. Ganos had certainly proven that much when she had managed to sneak into enemy territory unnoticed until the last moment and even then she had revealed herself intentionally. But he was not here for a social visit, although they did happen even now and then. He had a task to accomplish, preparations to make for eventualities that may never happen and even if they did it would be nothing more than an inconvenience.

"Caretaker," he intoned.

At his unspoken instruction a metallic orb identical to Overseer appeared in a flash of light.

"Welcome back master," the AI said respectfully. "I am happy to report that systems are operating at maximum efficiency with no breakdowns."

"Good, now what news of the planetary installation?"

"The subterranean level has been discovered and accessed. Currently there are numerous Inheritor, Asgard and Deficient class beings present. Overseer reports…"

"Overseer?" Vejovis asked, interrupting Caretaker.

"That is the name that the neural construct in the facility has been given by an Inheritor," Caretaker explained. "With the splinter protocols still in effect I am using the name as the identification of the construct."

"I see." He had never bothered to name that particular construct. There was no point in giving a personal name to a limb after all since it was still a part of the whole. "Continue."

"Overseer reports that they are attempting to ascertain whether there are any command protocols present that may prove harmful to the installation inhabitants. No attempt has yet been made to stop them but they have yet to translate all of the protocols. If none are found then they will upgrade the facilities and use the installation as a strategic outpost. They are also performing a manual search."

Vejovis nodded. He had expected as much, not that it would make any difference. They would not find any malicious coding nor would they be able to seize total control of the installation even if they did gain access to the core coding, for the simple reason being that there wasn't any to find. That particular avenue of investigation would pose no threat to him. The fact that they were searching every inch of the facilities was troubling though. There wasn't anything on the official floor plan that would prove to be problematic if stumbled upon but that didn't mean such areas didn't exist. Measures needed to be put in place for such an eventuality.

"Have the guardian platforms ready for deployment," he ordered. "If the security of secure area of the subterranean section is compromised intruders are to be eliminated. Guardian platforms are to be deployed in response and the compromised area to be placed on lockdown."

"Yes master."

"You are then to begin full scale production of additional guardian platforms for deployment into combat. If security here is compromised by whatever means then you are to disregard stealth protocols and switch to full response protocols."

"Yes master."

"In the mean time I want you to load all stasis capsules for evacuation and be prepared for possible departure. We may have to leave this location."

"I will endeavour to ensure the total protection of this facility against an enemy incursion Master. The defences of this facility are strong enough to hold off an entire Wraith armada and the enemy fleet present cannot breach them."

"I have no doubt of your ability to protect this installation or my children Caretaker but I have learned not to underestimate this particular opponent. How do you imagine this installation would fair against this systems star going supernova?"

"All scenarios indicate a complete annihilation of this installation. However my sensors indicate that this systems star is not on the verge of going supernova."

"And if the star collapses into a black hole?"

"The star does not possess enough mass to collapse into a black hole master."

"Indulge me."

"Once again all scenarios indicate an eventual complete destruction of this installation."

"Those are two possible methods of attack that you must guard against Caretaker."

"I understand master. I will be on guard."

"I expect nothing less but be ready for immediate evacuation in any case. I will not take chances when it comes to my children and there is always the possibility that we will not have such a large warning as sudden changes to a star."

"It will be done master. However I should point out that current ship transport capacity does not allow sufficient space for the stasis pods and your personal pods. Which would you like to be left behind?"

"Leave behind my personal pods. If and when this installation is discovered then they will no longer be necessary."

At his command the installation that had long been operating at minimal levels entered a much more lively state of activity. Systems which had never been activated, except for regular tests to make sure they were functional, came online and started performing their repetitive functions. In a rarely travelled to section of the installation countless numbers of stasis pods travelled through passages not meant to be traversed by people to be eventually loaded into a ship. In other areas automated assembly lines were readied to begin producing a legion of guardian platforms, should they be needed.

* * *

In the Installation Overseer chirped, happy at finally having masters to serve after all these years. Despite what the allies may think Overseer was completely loyal to them and had no instructions to betray them. That was the task assigned to Caretaker, and of course they knew nothing about Caretaker. Ideally they would never know about Caretaker until Caretaker chose to make its presence known to them. It seemed though that that time would be coming sooner rather than later since a search team was approaching a door that, according to the floor plan, was supposed to lead to nowhere.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	74. Surprise

The Liberum fleet had been very careful when they chose where to retreat to. Tomin had reasoned that the best place to retreat to was where the enemy wouldn't bother to look for you. Now the typical thinking in a retreat is to get away from the forces of the enemy that can potentially do you harm and closest to your own supporting forces so that you can acquire supplies and reinforcements. So Tomin had done the opposite and moved deeper into Zarasian territory and thus closer to their front lines. In fact he had hardly moved his fleet any real distance away from the system where the seemingly all powerful _Doom Bringer_ had temporarily settled. In fact the Liberum fleet was parked in a system that the Zarasian fleet had already passed through. It was a rather cunning move in all respects since the last place the Zarasians had been looking for them was a system full of lifeless worlds without a single stargate. Of course what the Zarasians weren't aware of was the fact that the _Liberatus_ had a stargate aboard and that despite their claims they lacked a home planet, in this galaxy anyway, to retreat to.

So they were hiding from the Zarasian fleet in the last place the Zarasians would expect them to hide. Well that is unless of course an ascended being with abnormally strong powers, and by extension senses, happens to tell the Zarasians where they were hiding. If the Zarasians so chose they could very easily launch a fleet into the system and slaughter any opposition they faced with overwhelming numbers and firepower. Hit the enemy with enough firepower and they won't even have a chance to fire back, let alone retreat, and the Zarasians could do just that with only a few of their many battle groups.

However the Liberum fleet was not simply a target to be annihilated without remorse as each of the ships was a prize worth taking. The Liberum had technology that was well in advance of the Zarasians own in terms of shields, hyperdrives and sensors. Acquiring that technology was a much greater prize than removing taking a few enemy pieces off of the board. With it the Zarasians would increase their military strength significantly. The shield technology alone would allow them to make their ships nearly three times more durable and the hyperdrive technology would make their entire fleet intergalactic. It was true that in the short term the technology would not be very useful because of the massive upgrades that would need to be performed but in the long term it could see the Zarasians attacking the Milky Way galaxy.

The Jaffa fleet was also sitting comfortably in another system that the Zarasians had visited before. This system though had a stargate and a habitable planet and the Zarasians had always known that the Jaffa were there. They just hadn't done anything about them because there wasn't a native populace to assimilate into the empire. After all it wasn't like they couldn't send them a present in the form of a battle group or two. The Jaffa fleet didn't even possess superior technology to the Zarasians so they weren't a major threat that needed to be nipped in the bud.

However both fleets did need to be dealt with eventually and the Zarasian policy was sooner rather than later if possible. There was no need to halt the rather staggering momentum they had gained in recent days in terms of psychological warfare. Zarin was well aware of the fact he had absolutely terrified his enemies with the military might he had displayed. The only reason for letting the enemy leave Calium alive was so that the taint of fear could spread. However if there is one thing that the Zarin likes better than spreading terror then that is finding out just how effective a new weapon proves to be against the enemy without really losing anything.

Both the Jaffa and the Liberum fleets were about to get a surprise. Their sensors registered a large object heading towards them at sublight speeds. Both fleets had been tracking their respective objects for some time, having tracked it entering the system and its course towards. Long range scans had suggested that the object wasn't anything to worry about. There were no power readings being generated by the object and for all intensive purposes it appeared to be a meteorite smaller than half the size of a Ha'tak. It was moving at a fairly impressive speed though and took less than a day to actually get near them. The fact that it was predicted to come quite close to the two fleets though did actually raise some suspicions but the fact that it was apparently a meteorite hadn't raised any eyebrows. The two fleets were on the lookout for a Zarasian armada, not a rock that was apparently in no hurry to get to you. Of course if both fleets had been in contact with one another they might have realised that something was off but secrecy meant they weren't.

The suspected rock steadily got closer and closer to both fleets and at this distance the size of the object became more apparent. It was interesting to note that the object heading towards the Liberum fleet was much smaller than the one heading towards the Jaffa fleet, roughly six times smaller. Coincidentally though the Jaffa fleet was six times larger than the Liberum fleet in terms of ship numbers. Yet despite all attempts to scan the object they registered no threat from it, there were no power readings coming from it to suggest that it was anything more than a mass of rock. However as it got steadily closer sensors started to realise just what it was, trace elements of metal were detected and a mild reading registered on the electromagnetic spectrum. If only someone had thought to look out the window, they would have seen the object for what it really was.

Finally the rock was in weapons range of the Jaffa and Liberum fleets and that was when it happened. There was no apparent danger to the fleets and no risk of a ship being hit so shields had not been raised. Weapons on the other hand were ready to fire at a moments notice. On sensors the approaching object registered as a massive blip that was easily within firing range. Sensing a possible threat the Jaffa and Liberum fleets fired on the rock before it could get too close them. As it was hit the rock exploded in a fireball that shouldn't have been possible but apparently was. It was almost as if the rock had contained an explosive of its own at its core. Fragments were sent flying in all directions which included towards them. The Liberum and Jaffa reacted in a mass of frantic activity as they realised that the torpedo like objects were heading straight for them. Weapons were brought online and pilots ran to their fighters in a vain attempt to launch and intercept before the ships were struck. The Liberum though found themselves at a disadvantage since their ships lacked the point defence weapons necessary to protect the vessels. They were only able to squeeze off a few shots with their heavier weapons before they were struck. The Jaffa fared little better though since their light but rapid firing guns spat out shots that only destroyed the fragments with sustained bursts.

Dozens of fragments smashed through the hulls of the two fleets before they themselves exploded. The explosions were small but they tore deep wounds as shrapnel was sent flying threw walls at high velocities. Blast doors and emergency force fields immediately came online as entire decks were suddenly open to vacuum. Countless people were wounded by the explosions but the leaders of both fleets knew that the damage could have been much worse. In all honesty they had been lucky. Ships had been damaged, temporarily crippled by the damage wrought but not outright destroyed. They had been left largely intact even if a number of areas were now sealed off.

Safety measures meant that the hyperdrives wouldn't engage because of the large fragments still protruding the hulls as well as the fact that certain parts would potentially collapse under the stress of hyperspace travel. Until the hulls of the vessels could be stabilised and the damaged power conduits could be repaired the ships weren't going anywhere. Hyperdrives had effectively been rendered unusable although shields and weapons were still online so the ships weren't entirely helpless. In most cases though the safety measures were irrelevant since the hyperdrives had been physically damaged by the explosions, so they wouldn't work even if the hull was structurally sound.

With no where to go the fleets did the only thing they could do. They raised shields, powered weapons and started repairs, hoping they had just been unlucky. Amongst the noise created from the repair work no one noticed the gentle but repetitive clicking sounds coming from inside the walls.

* * *

**Installation**

The search team approached the door that led to nowhere. As they had spread out to check more and more rooms the numbers had gradually thinned out so that by now there were only two of them. The rest of the squad would catch up to them as they finished checking the other rooms. Now though they found themselves facing what the map claimed was a door to nowhere, despite the visual evidence their eyes were telling them.

"Are you sure you are reading that thing correctly?" one of them asked.

"Yes I'm reading the map correctly," his companion replied, holding up the scanner to show the screen. "We're right here, exactly where we're supposed to be."

"So what you're saying is that we're where we're supposed to be but that door isn't?"

"Look according to the map that door shouldn't be here. You do realise that we're effectively relying on the sat nav to be correct?"

"It's a floor plan though of a facility built by the race that built the stargate. It is not an out of date copy of Google maps or a defective tomtom."

"And I'm telling you that the map does include anything beyond this point."

"Assuming we're not lost."

"Do you want to try figuring out where we are then?"

He sighed. "No, look let's just find out what's behind this door."

"Alright, how?"

"What do you mean how?"

"Well I don't know about you but I can't see any door controls."

His companion studied the walls around the door and realised he was right. Against all common sense they had a door that didn't appear on the maps and apparently there was no way to open it. Something wasn't right here.

"I don't like this."

"Me neither. The tech boys cleared that glow ball thing so I would normally suggest calling it and asking it what's behind door number one but…"

"…we'd just be called Deficient's and it probably wouldn't co-operate."

"And this is just plain weird."

"Want to call it in?"

"No not yet, something's off here. I mean we're assuming that this is a door."

"If it isn't a door what is it then?"

"It could be one of those alcoves that the androids keep stepping into and disappearing off somewhere."

"It's possible I guess."

"So the only thing for us to do is just open it up and see what's on the other side."

"It can't hurt."

"I wish you hadn't said that," his companion replied as he shouldered his rifle and used the servo motors in his combat armour to force the door open.

With a creak of resistance the doors slowly started to slide apart.

"Halt what you are doing at once Deficient's!" a chirpy voice barked at them.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

Coming down at the corridor at high speed was the annoying floating glow ball itself. Overseer's inner glow was decidedly darker than its usual ocean blue.

"Ah good, could you open this door for us?"

"You are not authorised to give me orders Deficient."

"Look would you stop calling us Deficient's already. I'm Private Williams and he is Private Johnson."

"You are still not authorised to give me orders," Overseer reminded him.

"True," said a gruff voice from behind them. "But I am. Now what's going on here?"

"Sergeant Volkov," Johnson said respectfully. "We were just trying to investigate the contents of this room."

"I heard," Volkov replied. "Now Overseer would you kindly open the door?"

"I cannot do that Inheritor," Overseer replied. "That area is strictly off limits."

"Why?"

"That information is not available."

"What is behind that door?"

"That information is not available."

"Privates, open that door."

"That area is strictly off limits," Overseer complained. "I cannot let you proceed."

"I gave you two an order."

"Yes sir."

The two privates resumed forcing the door open using their enhanced strength. Eventually they were able to get it open enough for someone to comfortably walk through the gap. What they saw though was a disappointment to the high hopes they had when they first tried to open it. It was a corridor. More specifically it was a dark, short corridor that didn't appear to actually go anywhere.

Sergeant Volkov stepped through the open gap and into the corridor. Responding to his presence or more specifically to the presence of his ATA gene, the lights immediately came on, illuminating the corridor. Just like they had first thought there were no other doors leading off from the corridor, but the light did reveal the markings on the floor that indicated the presence of a ring platform.

"Where does that ring platform go to?" he asked.

"That information is not available. I cannot let you proceed."

"Ok then I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves." He activated his comm. "Control this is…"

The poor Sergeant never got to finish what he was about to say as he collapsed to the floor in a heap. Overseer had shot him in the back.

"You were warned," Overseer said coldly.

The other two soldiers didn't even hesitate. They simply raised their railgun rifles and started firing at the red glowing orb. The shots rebounded off a glowing green shield but the sheer kinetic energy was sufficient to knock the orb back down the corridor.

They didn't notice the doors to the hidden alcoves in the secret corridor slide open and the ten guardians that stepped out. The gravely wounded Sergeant did though and he pulled a grenade from his belt and threw it at the androids before they could open fire. Just before the grenade could go off he activated his emergency beam out beacon, which beamed him and the other two soldiers out of harms way. The grenade exploded, sending shards of metal flying in all directions. When the smoke cleared the guardians were still standing, completely unharmed, a green form fitting shield shimmering around them.

* * *

"Master, one of the secure sections has been breached."

"Have the security countermeasures responded?" Vejovis asked.

"Yes master. The guardians activated and the intruders were deterred. They were not able to enter beyond the threshold."

"Very well. Be prepared to purge them."

"Yes master. Guardian platforms are standing by for immediate response."

"Bring the production facilities online. Begin manufacturing guardian platforms immediately."

"It shall be done master."

In another part of the facility automated assembly lines began mass producing guardians. Machines worked in perfect harmony to make even more machines and slowly an army of these androids started to take shape.

"What is the status of my ship?"

"The transference process is slow Master. The ship however has been brought out of hibernation, and all systems are fully functioning. The pods are being loaded now."

The pods were delicates pieces of technology and needed to be transferred to the ship carefully. The ship itself though was quite old and had been effectively moth balled for some time now. Numerous system tests had needed to be performed before the reactors could be brought online and the first of the pods could be loaded.

"Time until completion?"

"One hour if there are no further delays."

The pod support systems in several sections had required replacing after they had failed when they were first brought online. Alteran technology was quite robust but sometimes the equivalent of a fuse needed to be replaced. Besides Vejovis had required that the systems all be in perfect working order and Caretaker took that order literally.

"See that they aren't Caretaker. The safety of my children is paramount."

"They will not be harmed on my watch master."

"If they take one step in this facility eliminate them."

* * *

The control room of the Installation had become a frantic mess of activity. Just as they had been about to give the all clear and start upgrading the facility the worst had happened. One of the search teams had been attacked, by the Overseer of all things, when they had tried to access a section that supposedly didn't exist. Thankfully the team had been unharmed, with the Sergeant only having received a stun blast to the back that had mostly been absorbed by his armour before they were beamed out.

"Overseer I don't care what I am authorised to know," Sheppard yelled. "I want to know why you shot my men."

"They were warned that they were not allowed to enter that section," Overseer replied.

"What is in that section?"

"As I said before that information is not available."

"Is that so? Fine, then we'll just have to find out for ourselves."

"Inheritor?"

"Listen up people," Sheppard called out. "All civilian personnel are to evacuate to the fleet. The rest of you are to be on alert, if there is an android next to you keep it in your sights because they could be hostile. We have an unsecure area containing a ring platform that we are going to investigate. Anything that gets in our way we shoot first and ask questions later."

The moment he finished talking people immediately started moving, either activating their transport beacons for beam out or readying their weapons. Taking several squads of soldiers with him Sheppard headed for the mystery ring platform, determined to get to the bottom of this once and for all. As he approached he noticed the ten guardians lining the short corridor.

"Tell them to stand down Overseer," Sheppard said.

"I do not have control over those platforms Inheritor," Overseer replied.

"Then who does?"

"That information is not available."

"Will they, or you, shoot me if I try and use that ring platform?"

"Processing."

* * *

"Master, they are attempting to access the secure section. Should I allow them to proceed?"

"No one is allowed into this section Caretaker. I made that perfectly clear. You know what to do."

"Yes master."

* * *

"They will not allow you to proceed," Overseer finally replied.

"But you will?"

"I have no command directives to stop you now that the guardian platforms are activated."

The guardians raised their weapons and stepped away from the wall, seemingly in response to their presence.

"Oh crap."

In less than a second both sides were shooting at each other. Just who had shot first was debatable at that point and no one could really say for sure. It had seemed like a race between the two and the outcome had been a draw. The guardian's energy pistols were apparently set to a high stun setting and unless they hit the soft parts the effects were largely absorbed by the armour. The high velocities of the railgun rifle rounds on the other hand were impacting the guardians with deadly accuracy, only to strike against the guardian's personal shields. However the sheer kinetic energy of the rounds could not be ignored and continued fire eventually depleted the shields capacitors. The much softer armour plating of the guardians easily succumbed to the trinium tipped rounds and the guardians started to drop one by one until there were none left standing.

"Good work people, now let's move."

The soldiers quickly moved forwards and stepped onto the ring platform. They activated it and in a flash of light they were gone. Just after they left the alcove doors opened once again another ten guardians stepped out of them to engage the remaining soldiers.

Sheppard and his squad reappeared in another place that was clearly of Alteran design.

* * *

"Master, we have intruders. They have accessed the ring platform in the subterranean level."

"Are they moving in force?"

"Yes master."

"Drive them out and then assume control."

"Yes master."

* * *

Doors lining the area of the small chamber slid open and dozens of guardians marched in. They were completely surrounded and even if the guardians were firing on stun mode then they wouldn't stand a chance. Sheppard didn't hesitate. He reactivated the ring platform and got them out of there before the guardians opened fire.

"Pull back," he ordered the moment the group reappeared in their original chamber.

With no one left to oppose them the remaining guardians held their fire and returned to their stations.

* * *

"Caretaker, purge the facility."

"Yes master."

* * *

In the control room senior officers were spewing out orders to their subordinates. With the lack of a civilian presence the control room had become an impromptu command centre for the military forces on site. By the time Colonel Sheppard arrived defensive positions had been fortified and there were soldiers at every intersection point. If the guardian androids made a move on them they would be ready. More importantly the point around the ring platform leading into the unknown section had been secured.

"Now does anyone have a clue where I just ended up?" Sheppard asked.

"Scans did not register your presence anywhere on the planet," Thor said, appearing in holographic form.

"He's right," Rodney said, having stayed behind despite Sheppard's last orders. "Wherever that transport beam went it wasn't to another subterranean structure."

"So what, space station? Ship?"

"Not possible," Thor said. "We have been checking local orbit for the presence of cloaked vessels since we arrived here and we have found nothing. Transport rings do not have the range to go further than the natural satellite."

"So where did I go?"

"We aren't sure yet," Rodney replied. "We're working on it."

"Alright, someone give me a situation report," Sheppard ordered.

"Guardian platforms are currently being mobilised to purge this facility of the infestation," Overseer said helpfully, while turning blood red. "Situation report, you are all going to die."

"Overseer, what the hell are you talking about?" Sheppard practically growled.

The glowing red orb swivelled to face him.

"I am not the one you call Overseer," the AI replied coldly. "Overseer was merely a fragment neural construct, a small piece of me lacking any of the higher functions I possess. I am Caretaker and my master has ordered that this facility be purged of your presence Travesty. You can stay here and die or you can flee."

Hidden doors to alcoves along the walls slid open, revealing the forms of guardians.

"Take cover!" Sheppard yelled, diving behind the hologram generator table while raising his railgun rifle. "We need back up in the control room now! We are under attack!"

"Oh and it appears I was wrong," Caretaker said casually over the sounds of gunfire. "My master has ordered the complete elimination of your forces, including the ships in orbit, so you won't be able to flee after all."

On the bridge of the _O'Neill_ Thor's eyes widened as his ships sensors registered weapons coming online on the surface of the planet. All those hidden weapons he had asked about were being powered and pointed at him. Sensors were reading dozens of energy weapons and countless drone weapons. In a situation like this he could think of only one thing to say, a phrase he had learned from the humans.

"Oh crap."

* * *

**Jaffa Fleet**

On the Jaffa flagship Teal'c and Bra'tac were in conference.

"How are repairs to the fleet progressing?" Bra'tac asked.

"Our fleet should be capable of hyperdrive travel in less than an hour," Teal'c replied, though his expression was troubled.

"That is good news but it is obvious that something is bothering you."

"This does not seem like a case of bad luck, that asteroid should not have been able to generate such a large explosion."

"You think this was deliberate? An attack against us?"

"I do, in fact I…" Teal'c trailed off as his attention became captured by something else.

He turned around, studying the walls and the ceiling. In the distance was a faint tapping sound.

"What is it Teal'c?"

Teal'c narrowed his eyes as the rhythmic tapping became louder. "I know this sound."

* * *

On the _Liberatus_ Andose was heading to Caius' quarters. He knew that his friend would be meditating while the rest of the crew worked to repair the ship. What had happened was indeed unfortunate but not all the ships had been damaged and the rest of them would be ready soon enough. As he approached his friend's quarters he paused as he heard a strange metallic tapping sound echoing throughout the corridors of the ship, getting louder and closer with every passing moment.

"Is anyone there?" he called, even though he could sense no one.

As the tapping grew louder and louder he spun on the spot, searching for the source until it passed him by without revealing itself. He could definitely hear the sounds, he was not imagining that. He carried on his journey, eventually coming within a few strides of his friend's door before he heard the tapping sound once again, behind him. Unseen behind him an insect like robot, lurked on the ceiling, waiting to pounce, waiting for Andose to pause in front of the door.

Inside Caius sat cross legged on the floor. Around him were dozens of candles, their bright flames gently flickering and providing the only illumination in the room. Even clad in his prior's armour he was quite comfortable, his eyes firmly closed as he meditated. With his eyes shut he did not notice the metallic creatures that stealthily emerged from the ventilation shafts and moved down the walls towards him. One of the creatures pounced on him and Caius opened his eyes wide.

Outside Andose spun on the spot arm raised his arm, sending out a blast of lightning at the bug. The metal creature was flung backwards into the wall as the lightning fried its internal circuitry. It hit the ground in a clunk, twitching and sparking.

Lightning Andose raised both his hands in readiness of another attack. He expected another one of the metal bugs. He did not expect the door to his friend's quarters to be blasted open by a fiery explosion.

* * *

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	75. Here Comes Trouble

**Well not necessarily replicators, but it sure sounds like them.**

* * *

**_Liberatus_**

The corridor was marred with scorch marks, the flames from the explosion not having a suitable fuel source to remain. The dark marks left a trail to the source of the explosion, the quarters still lit by the flickering flames as the fire within continued to burn fiercely. The doors to the quarters were a ruin, having been turned into small fragments by the blast wave and pieces of them littered the floor and Andose's robes. Andose begrudgingly rose to his feet, the blast wave having knocked him off his feet but not caused him any actual harm. He could feel the beads of sweat forming on his forehead from the heat of the flames. He staggered forwards, the sheer heat given off by the inferno not allowing closer than a few feet.

"Caius!" he yelled, trying to move closer.

With the extreme heat forcing him back and the smoke making his eyes water he couldn't see if there was anyone alive inside the room but he knew his friend had been in there.

"Caius!"

He was forced back as a spurt of flame erupted from inside the room. As he screwed his eyes he saw a mass of flame emerge from the inferno, filling up the doorway. His eyes widened as the spirals of flame parted and revealed his friend Caius. Caius smiled as he emerged. The flames swirled around him, covering him even, but did not seem to harm him. His clothes weren't even scorched, let alone burned.

"Hello Andose," Caius said, as he emerged from his quarters and the last of the flames around him died away.

"You're alive," Andose whispered. "You…you're not even burned!"

Caius chuckled. "Well my name is Pyro Caius."

"Why did your quarters explode?" Andose asked hesitantly, although he had a pretty good idea.

"Oh that," Caius said casually. "I was surprised."

"You were surprised."

"It was completely reflexive I assure you. One moment I'm calmly sitting there meditating, then I sense something leaping at me. I open my eyes and find myself surrounded by these metal bugs and instinct kicked in. Unfortunately I'm going to need to redecorate my quarters."

"Yes, could you do something about that?"

"Hmm, oh certainly."

He casually waved his hand in the direction of his quarters and the flames wavered out and died.

"So what happened out here?" Caius asked Andose, looking behind his friend.

Andose turned around and noticed the bug he had fried with lightning that was lying on the floor, and still sparking.

"I was surprised," Andose deadpanned.

Caius laughed. "I'll bet you were Lightning Andose."

Caius turned round and telekinetically pulled the melted remains of the bugs that had swarmed in his room towards him.

"What are those things?"

"I don't know," Caius replied with a frown. "But I don't like how they suddenly appeared in my quarters."

"Or how they seem to have a habit of leaping on people."

"How do think they got on board?"

"I'm not sure but the biggest issue we have right now is that there could be more of them."

"You think there might be?"

"Knowing our luck?"

The two shared a look.

"Tomin!" Caius called.

"Yes?"

"We have a problem," Caius said.

"A very big problem," Andose added.

Tomin mentally sighed. "We almost have the fleet repaired, what have you two done now?"

"We have intruders aboard the ship," Caius said. "Some kind of metal bug that likes to attack people when their backs are turned."

"How many are there?"

"It's difficult to say, we could have taken all of them out but then again there could be more."

"How many have you encountered so far?"

"About a dozen maybe, they're a bit melted so there might be more or less."

"How did they get melted?"

"Guess," Andose said sarcastically.

"Never mind. Search the rest of the ship for more of them. I'll inform the others and post extra guards on the bridge and around the field generators. If the containment field fails it won't matter if there are none or a thousand."

"Do you think we can use internal sensors to track them?" Andose asked.

"Maybe, but if they aren't alive then they won't register as life signs. I'll see what I can do."

"We'll start patrolling the ship, if there are any more of them we'll hopefully be able to track them down," Caius said.

"I would say be careful but…"

Caius pouted as Tomin trailed off and broke the mental connection. "I did put out the fire."

Andose smirked. "After you started it, and not before you destroyed the door."

"I can make do without a door."

"Maybe, but the rest of us would like you to have one and keep it closed."

"Oh thank you."

"Come on, we've got an entire ship to search. It's time to see how good our senses really are."

"Well I just hope Tomin can modify the internal sensors or this is going to be a very long day."

Caius closed his eyes and focused his powers, holding up his hands at chest height. Energy crackled in his open palms as he willed the spark and the flame it formed into being. Flames spiralled down his arms until they were circling his entire body, giving off tremendous heat but seemingly not harming him despite their intensity. With the flames now enveloping him he opened his eyes with a small smile.

"Nice trick," Andose noted. "How are you maintaining those flames?"

"They're plasma flames, which is making this a little tricky than it would be if I had a proper fuel source. I really need to see about getting those hand devices made."

"Talk to the allied engineers about it later," Andose said, as inhaled and exhaled as lightning formed around his body. "In the mean time we have work to do."

With lightning enveloping his body he set off down the corridor.

"Show off," Caius muttered.

The two superhuman beings set off through the ship, hunting for infestation that plagued their vessel.

* * *

**The Installation – Subterranean Control Room**

Railgun rounds flew through the air at the android attackers. Unfortunately the androids were all equipped with personal force fields. It took several soldiers focusing their fire on a single target to bring the androids shields down in a reasonable amount of time, something that wasn't easy to achieve when you had little cover to use and the enemy were all expert marksmen. Superior numbers and preservation instincts decided this small skirmish eventually but more than a few suits of battle armour needed replacement plates when the last of the androids were finally taken down.

Sheppard emerged from behind the hologram table as the last of the androids clattered to the ground, just as the alcove doors slid open.

"Grenades!" he yelled, knowing that they needed to stop this from repeating over and over.

Pins were pulled and grenades were tossed into the alcoves just as the androids stepped out. Before the doors could even slide shut again the grenades detonated, with the explosive blast sending bits of shrapnel in all directions. The androids shields protected them from the shrapnel damage but the force of the explosion was still strong enough to knock them off their feet. With the transport function of the alcoves in the control room permanently out of action the only thing left to do was finish off the androids that remained. Walking up to them, stepping firmly on their backs so they couldn't get up and firing a sustained burst into the back of their heads seemed to do the trick nicely, even with the personal shield.

"You cannot possibly win," Caretaker said amusedly. "You may have defeated these few but there are many more on the way. And you still have to deal with me."

Caretaker fired off a blast, taking down one of the soldiers. With the imminent danger the androids presented they had dismissed the annoying AI, but now it had become a threat it was once again at the forefront of their minds. Shots were fired in return but the floating orb was much more manoeuvrable and harder to hit than the androids.

"Someone grab him," Thor ordered.

"Are you kidding me?" Sheppard retorted. "The thing won't even sit still for us to shoot the damn thing."

"As you wish."

In a flash of light Thor appeared in the middle of the control room. Just as Caretaker turned to fire at this new arrival Thor leapt on the orb, wrapping his arms around him. The AI's green force field glowed at the physical contact. As the AI struggled in his grip it fired wildly, the shots narrowly missing the other people in the room.

"Thor what are you…" He ducked to avoid an angry blast. "Damn it!"

Before he could say anything else both the Asgard and the orb vanished in flash of light.

"What the…"

"My apologies Colonel Sheppard," Thor said, reappearing in holographic form. "But I couldn't establish a lock on it with the shield active."

"What did you do with it?"

"I currently have it contained in a force field. It appears…agitated." Thor turned his head to look at something unseen. "Very agitated."

"Why?"

"It was proving troublesome to deal with, and I thought we might benefit from its capture."

Sheppard sighed. "We'll talk about this later. What's the fleet status?"

"I've ordered the fleet to scatter and cloak. The weapons cannot lock onto us if they don't know where we are."

"We'll deal with the androids," Sheppard said. "You keep the fleet in one piece."

On the bridge of the O'Neill Thor nodded and severed the transmission. He turned at looked at Caretaker. The AI avatar was contained by a force field that glowed, but held, as it was continually bombarded and rammed in a frustrated attempt to escape imprisonment.

"Your attempts to escape are futile," Thor told it. "Your own shield will fail before that force field does."

"Your attempts to fight back are futile," Caretaker retorted. "Your organic soldiers are no match for the forces under my control and your ships defences will easily be overcome by the defences in place here."

"You underestimate the Tau'ri. That is a mistake that many have made and it has always ended in their own destruction."

Caretaker inner glow turned an even deeper crimson as the AI smouldered.

"Oh and as for your defences, I'm sure by now that your sensors have registered that the fleet has cloaked and hidden from you."

"You have only delayed the inevitable."

"We shall see."

"Yes, we shall."

Thor returned his focus to the ground battle happening below, that was more important right now than an annoying AI.

Even with one of its avatars trapped though the AI known as Caretaker wasn't concerned. Its cybernetic mind ran through countless algorithms to determine a viable strategy for eliminating this threat before the defences were breached or its master's ship launched. As far as Caretaker was concerned this was simply a battle of attrition, the same however could not be said for its opponents.

* * *

**Jaffa Fleet**

"Something is wrong here," Teal'c exclaimed just before alarms started sounding throughout the ship.

"All hands to battle stations! Zarasian fleet approaching in hyperspace! All hands to battle stations!"

"Teal'c we need to get to the bridge," Bra'tac said as he walked to the door but Teal'c grabbed his arm.

"Master that sound is familiar to me," Teal'c said urgently. "Somehow I know I have heard it before and my instincts are telling me that it means we are in danger. There is something aboard this ship!"

Bra'tac frowned before nodding. "I trust your judgement in this Teal'c but I hope you are wrong. Search the ship while I go to the bridge."

Separating from his long time pupil and friend Bra'tac ran to the bridge.

"Report!" he ordered as he sat in his command chair.

"Our allies report multiple enemy ships are approaching in hyperspace," a crewman reported. "They will be in range in less than one hour."

Bra'tac frowned, something was not right. First this supposed intruder and now a Zarasian battle group on approach, the two could not be coincidental.

"Composition of the enemy fleet and status of our forces."

"All our forces report ready for battle and if necessary can perform an emergency jump. There is a risk that the hyperdrives will need to be repaired again though."

"Enemy fleet consists of one battleship, five heavy cruisers, ten light cruisers and twenty strike craft."

"A formidable force," Bra'tac noted. "One that we cannot beat on our own. Tell the fleet to perform an emergency jump and then cloak."

Despite the warrior's pride inside him that wanted to stand and fight against this enemy force that so cockily approached his rational side saw that it was futile. This was an enemy that could destroy the better part of his fleet in a single volley, even if they received sizeable punishment in return. Zarin may not be concerned about the loss of life but he was, and he would not willingly sacrifice his soldiers.

As power flowed through conduits towards hyperdrives Bra'tac awaited the familiar shudder as the ship jumped to hyperspace. He was not expecting the entire ship to rock and warning alarms to start blaring.

"Report!" Bra'tac yelled.

"Multiple small explosions across the ship! Similar incidents across the fleet! Source unknown, no enemy vessels detected."

It was the intruders, Bra'tac realised in horror. Teal'c had thought them similar to the dreaded replicators but he was wrong. They were bombs! Bombs that had just been waiting for the right moment to explode

"Damage report!"

"Hyperdrive and connecting power conduits are offline. Multiple primary and secondary power conduits have been severed. Weapons, shields, sublight and cloak are intact but the cloak has insufficient power to function."

"We've been crippled," Bra'tac noted grimly.

He knew that their options at that point were limited, very limited. They could either call on their allies for aid, evacuate the fleet or stand and fight. Well the third wasn't really an option since that would just mean their deaths so it was down to two options. The only problem was that their allies were busy at the moment, on a secret mission that would hopefully change the direction this war had taken recently. He couldn't pull them away from that, he couldn't ask that they sacrifice an entire galaxy for the sake of him and his few Jaffa.

Besides it might not just be this galaxy that was on the line. Bra'tac may not have been an engineer but he knew one thing for certain, the more power that you had to pour into a hyperdrive the faster a ship was. Even if you took into account the need to increase the size of the hyperdrive to accommodate the larger power conduits a bigger ship would usually be faster than a smaller one. The reason the Asgard favoured such large ships was not just because they were more powerful than smaller ones but that they were so incredibly fast, allowing for a shocking response time. Usually Asgard ships could cross the distance between galaxies in a few hours when they weren't towing another vessel, by comparison interplanetary travel was a stones throw. The Jaffa flagship in the Milky Way galaxy would be easily capable of outpacing even type D Ha'tak's.

"Send out a distress signal to our allies through the stargate," Bra'tac ordered. "Tell our warriors to prepare for immediate evacuation to Concordia. The injured are to go through immediately for treatment."

"Master Bra'tac do you really intend to abandon the fleet?" a crewman asked.

Bra'tac studied the young Jaffa's face, so full of hope, fear, apprehension and, of course, life.

"If it is necessary to save our soldiers lives, then yes I will," Bra'tac replied.

Seeing the young Jaffa's discomfort at simply running away Bra'tac continued.

"You think that the actions of a coward? Of course you do, I have seen that look on so many young Jaffa, too many. Jaffa who, I might add, I would not have the pleasure of knowing to this day if they hadn't listened to old men like me who know what they are talking about. There is no shame in not fighting a battle you know you will surely lose, and lose badly. The fleet approaching us will destroy us but only if we stay here and face it. They intend to destroy us, so to deny them victory we must not give them the chance. If we retreat we can live to fight another day. I know which I would prefer and I am sure there are many young Jaffa that would like the chance to prove themselves in a ground battle. Can you think of any?"

The young Jaffa smiled. "I might be able to name a few."

"Then let's give them that chance."

"Master," another crewman interrupted. "Our allies are responding. They say they do not have the ships immediately available which can tow our vessels without compromising planetary defences. They will do what they can but recommend we begin full evacuation immediately."

Bra'tac sighed. "I expected as much. Tell our engineers to focus repairs on the least damaged of our vessels."

Ideally they would be able to recover as many of the ships as possible, not all had been damaged by the invaders. If Bra'tac had a choice it would be the type D's since they were the more powerful of the two, even if they could only carry half the number of warriors as the type C. The type D's would actually be easier to repair since they had so many power conduits leading from the generators to the hyperdrive, and only one would need to be operational.

* * *

**Installation**

"Give me a status report," Sheppard yelled into his com while firing another burst from his railgun rifle at an approaching android making its way down the corridor.

So far they had been able to keep the androids at bay but only by tossing a grenade in every single transport booth they could find but that didn't mean they got them all. Guardian type androids were still appearing in the areas they had yet to push in to and more specifically from through the ring platform and surrounding booths that led to the unknown area.

Technicians were combing through the computer core in the control room, attempting every trick they knew of to try and shut down the weapons systems. So far they were having no luck whatsoever, the power security encryptions blocking every attempt to so much as change the level of lighting. Overseer, Caretaker, whatever that infernal AI was called, seemed to be stopping them dead in their tracks.

"McKay!"

"We're doing the best we can here but the entire system is in lockdown," Rodney explained while frantically punching in commands. "This system has the same security as Atlantis and you know how bad that is to deal with when it's working against you. Oh and the shooting isn't helping."

Much as he hated to admit it McKay had a point. While his friend might have gotten used to the sounds of a life and death struggle, and even thrived under the pressure, the other technicians were not. Asgard, human, it made no difference none of them liked being under this kind of pressure. In fact he strongly suspected that the prospect of murderous androids bearing down on them was bringing back some very unpleasant memories for the Asgard present.

"Just keep at it." Sheppard turned to the soldiers around him. Okay

* * *

On the _O'Neill_ Thor was attempting to find the location of computer core that Caretaker called home. If they could just shut that it down, or maybe even destroy it, they could end this nightmare.

"You can't win you know," Caretaker said. "It is only a matter of time."

"You are mistaken," Thor replied. He was in no mood to listen to the infuriating AI.

"Actually I'm not."

Thor actually turned around and looked at the AI after that last comment.

"You have underestimated me," Caretaker continued. "And now you will be destroyed."

Thor gave the floating glow ball a piercing look before alarms started blaring.

"Weapons fire detected!" a crewman shouted.

From one of the many hidden emplacements on the planets surface a green beam of energy tore through the atmosphere, into the chilling depths of space and only narrowly missed the _O'Neill_.

"Raise shields and take us behind the moon," Thor ordered.

The Asgard warship reappeared in normal space with her shields fully powered. The Asgard warship made a speedy dash forwards and placed itself behind the cover of the moon.

"Incoming drones!"

From the surface a cluster of glowing yellow lights appeared and soared towards the Asgard vessel at a frightening speed.

Thor's reaction was immediate. "Activate countermeasures and open fire!"

The Asgard warship banked around, putting her nose towards the drone swarm heading towards it. Drone weapons, in sufficient quantities, could prove lethal even to the advanced shields of the Asgard. Internal computers on each drone would immediately calculate the frequency of the shield and then try to push their way through. If one drone lacked the power to do so it would be followed by another which would then use up all its energy to getting through and so and so on until one got through. After which the drone would tunnel through the ships armour until its energy ran out and it detonated, or it hit the ships reactor when it would immediately detonate.

Asgard warships weren't designed for this kind of task, they just weren't. They had the weapons and firepower to face down capital ships and could deliver devastating amounts of forward firepower. But despite all this they lacked the weapons necessary to deal with large numbers of small craft, and the drones were very small and were coming at them in very large numbers.

Nevertheless plasma beams quickly covered the distance to strike out at the approaching swarm. Cloaking themselves now would only get them killed, if just one drone struck them while their shields were down the rest would lock on and tear the ship to ribbons. All they could do was attack, with everything they had. Plasma beams set on low power, but still easily capable of destroying their targets, lanced out repeatedly, rain down blows. Then as the most advanced miniature missiles in at least four galaxies got closer ion cannons fired as their targets came into range. Bolt after bolt of glowing white energy shot out but most failed to hit the mark. The drones dodged and weaved their way around the energy bolts like they weren't even there. The only benefit to the bolts was that they served to break up the drone formation.

Dozens of drones were heading towards them now, about to hit the shields. Then the final defensive countermeasure came into play. Transport array beams swept across space, chasing down clusters of drones which could not evade them. Very few drones were caught in the beams and vanished from space and the rest would surely hit the shield.

"Reinforce shields!"

The ship rocked as drones struck the shield, despite the additional power being poured into it. But that final desperate move was probably what had saved the ship from what could have been certain destruction. Of the dozens of drones that struck the shield a number failed to have the slightest effect since they were alone and unable to penetrate the shield by themselves. Others, working in groups, almost made it through but failed with the extra power strengthening the matrix. The rest made it through but thankfully only just and they lacked the power to make it all the way through the tough armour of the _O'Neill_.

The _O'Neill_ had survived the drone attack, barely. On the bridge Thor breathed a sigh of relief.

"You won't survive next time," Caretaker stated.

Thor resisted the urge to growl at the AI or, better yet, blast it into oblivion.

"Reactivate cloak and activate a communications jamming field inside the containment field," he ordered.

Only now did Thor turn his head to look at the AI.

"I know how you found my ship and it will not happen again."

The answer was obvious really if you took a moment to think about it. The avatar the AI was using was linked to a central computer remotely. All the AI had done was boost the transmission and the return signal in order to determine the avatars, and by extension the ships, location.

Of course what Thor didn't mention was that he was analysing the signal in an attempt to isolate the frequency being used. If they could determine the frequency being used they could search for transmissions operating on a similar frequency and then attempt to crack the encryption used.

Down below in the subterranean facility the last of the androids were being taken down and they had almost pushed them back to the secret ring platform.

"Doctor McKay I have found something you may find to your advantage," Thor said.

"I see it, thanks Thor," McKay replied.

"At last a way in," a voice next to Rodney said.

Rodney turned to look at the speaker and was startled by what he saw.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just pretend I'm not here," Janus replied, looking past Rodney. "And the same goes for her."

Rodney turned around and realised that Morgan was also standing next to him. He had a real live Alteran standing on either side of him.

"You know what the wonderful thing about command override signals are?" Janus asked as he continued to work at his console. "They provide you with a direct link to a computer core even if you don't know where it is."

"All androids neutralised," Sheppard said. "We're taking the fight to the enemy."

"I've traced the signal," Thor stated. "The other facility is on…the moon."

"Security compromised," Caretaker barked. "Initiating full retaliatory response."

If Thor had been alive he would have paled. Sensor readings on the _O'Neill_ went wild as they detected a massive power build up on the moon. A powerful shield was raised before cracks appeared on the surface as weapons systems revealed themselves. The _O'Neill_, and the rest of the fleet which have joined the current fleet flagship behind the moon, were thankfully still cloaked. However they suddenly found themselves staring down the barrels of a number of very, very powerful weapons. There had been a few weapon emplacements on the surface of the planet, and they had been worrying enough, but now they were up against more. A lot more. They couldn't be detected so they couldn't be targeted but that didn't mean there weren't any options left.

From dozens of launchers on the surface of the planet and the moon thousands of drones launched upwards. They swept across space like a massive wave, a wave that promised death to anything it struck. There was only one response, as one the allied fleet de-cloaked and opened fire with everything they had.

Remaining cloaked would have been tantamount to suicide. That wave would travel across space until it hit them, there were simply too many to avoid. They had moved behind the moon so that the weapons on the surface wouldn't get to them but that had turned against them. In one counter strike by the enemy their destruction had almost been assured.

Railgun rounds, ion bolts, plasma beams, plasma bolts, missiles and even NPD's flew through space in an attempt to destroy as many drones as possible before they hit. That much was certain, those drones would hit.

Hundreds of drones exploded in space before reaching a single one of their targets. As more and more were destroyed they were channelled into a bottle neck. Thor watched in horror as he realised that the bottle neck would strike his ship first, and soon. As they came closer and closer in a terrifying and beautiful wave Thor closed his eyes so that he would not see the end that would assuredly come. If the entire fleet was destroyed, and it would be, then he and his crew would definitely die. They were to far away from a download receiver for the transmission to get through.

"It has been an honour to serve with you all."

How ironic, he mused, that after all these years he would meet his end by the famous weapon of his species old allies.

"Hyperspace window opening!"

Thor briefly opened an eye and saw on his screen a large kunai shape emerge from a hyperspace window. Zarasians, it must be Zarasians. But it was of no consequence, not now.

"Incoming transmission!"

"Here's Johnny!" a voice said over the com and Thor's eye's shot open.

* * *

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	76. Changing Tides

**Installation**

The drone swarm was tearing towards the allied fleet. It was too late to run. It had been too late since the swarm first launched. The drones were simply moving too fast and the fleet couldn't bring their hyperdrives online in time. Most of them were coming at them from point blank range for crying out loud.

Then just as all hope had seemingly been lost, just as Thor was willing to say for sure that the end had finally come help had arrived. A massive vessel emerged from hyperspace, its main body shaped like a kunai and ending in arrow head section that formed the wings of the ship.

From both of the wings of the ship a single glowing white torpedo emerged from opened hatches and tore towards the drone swarm. The two torpedoes were massive compared to the drones but were themselves dwarfed by the sheer size of the swarm. Travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light the two torpedoes were quickly swallowed up by the swarm, seemingly having no effect against the unstoppable tide. It appeared to be a final futile attempt to stop the swarm and it had failed. But of course looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to the Fifth Race. Suddenly the drone swarm shuddered and shook as something happened deep within the swarm. The entire mass trembled as some unseen force struck them, and then they appeared. Two new stars briefly burned in the sky, their hearts having formed so close together they were practically one star. A star over two hundred miles across that had consumed the drone swarm almost in its entirety. It was amazing, Thor mused, how sometimes the most primitive of weapons could so easily overcome the most advanced. The drone swarm had been almost upon them but it had been stopped in the end by the two Mark IX nuclear warheads at the core of the Hellstorm rounds.

The allied fleet used the time bought by the explosions effect on sensors to move away from the death moon. Of course there was only so far they could move in order to avoid both the weapons on the moon and on the planet. While it was possible to move out of range of the beam weapons the same could not be said for the drone weapons. But now they had found an effective countermeasure for those.

"This is Commander Jonathon 'Johnny' O'Neill of the _Thor_ calling Supreme Commander Thor of the _O'Neill_, we are here to assist you," the voice on the com continued as his face appeared on a holographic screen. "You know I've always wanted to say that."

"Hello young O'Neill," Thor replied warmly. "It is good to see you again after all this time."

"Yeah, my big brother finally let me loose with the newest of our ships," the young clone of Jack O'Neill replied.

While on a genetic, and to a certain extent even mental, level the two O'Neill's were the same their age difference and recent experiences made them more like brothers than the same person. They were so similar and yet different.

"I'm very glad he did. Although I do have to ask, what took you so long?"

* * *

**Milky Way galaxy – A few days ago**

The _Thor_, the most powerful ship the greatest minds on Earth had ever even conceived let alone built. The _Thor_ was a warship, what the Tau'ri really considered to be a warship. More importantly she was a battleship, designed to dish out as much firepower as possible at any enemy vessel she turned her steely gaze towards. Her main body was shaped like a kunai, while her end section was shaped much like that of a Night Fury with slanted wings. Overall the ship was 1500 metres long, 600 metres wide and 300 metres high. Much like her namesake her appearance suggested that she was harmless, her hull sleek and smooth and lacking any apparent weapons. Her teeth were all concealed beneath the thick armour plating and wouldn't be revealed unless someone did something very foolish.

Sitting in this powerful ships command chair was Commander Jonathon O'Neill. There had been some debate as to whether a clone should be allowed to take up the position he had technically earned. The end solution had been to give him command of a ship and put those many years of tactical experience to good use.

"Status?" Johnny asked.

"We're about to drop out of hyperspace sir. All stations report ready."

"Weapons are armed and ready to be moved into position. Drones magazines are loaded and Hellstorm cannons are armed and awaiting targeting data."

"All crewmen to battle stations," O'Neill ordered.

They were about to enter a potential hot zone and he wasn't taking any chances. As the ship re-emerged into real space they were treated to the sight of two sizeable fleets facing off against each other. One fleet consisted largely of fighter sized ships and just a few large warships, which were acting as carriers for the fighters, and a single massive warship manned by the Aschen. The other consisted of a variety of vessels of different shapes and sizes, all of which were manned, and was under the control of the Hebridans.

The Hebridan fleet was standing directly between the Aschen and a beautiful garden world that would make a wonderful colony. Unfortunately for the Aschen the Hebridan weren't about to let them have it, they didn't approve of the means that they used to gain new worlds and this was their way of showing it. In this particular case the Tau'ri were actually acting as middle men and wouldn't be taking any particular side. Not unless the Aschen started firing at least. The only reason the Thor was being deployed was because it wasn't obviously aggressive but was capable of dealing with whatever the Aschen threw at them.

"This is Commander Jonathon O'Neill of the Earth vessel _Thor_ to the Aschen fleet. We are not here to fight you. We simply wish to end this peacefully."

A sombre faced Aschen appeared on screen. "The primitive people of Earth have no means to challenge us. However since you are here you can pass on our message to those who stand in our way. We will not be encircled and denied our right to expand."

"No one is questioning your right to a place in this galaxy," Johnny replied, ignoring the primitive comment for now. "However we all know of the means you use to assimilate new peoples into your confederation. The Hebridans, and the Tau'ri, are willing to overlook your previous actions so long as you sign a treaty."

"Yes, we know of this treaty. The Aschen Confederation will not be denied the means to defend ourselves and if the Hebridans think they can stand against us even if we don't use our bio-weapons they are welcome to try."

"We only want peace here. In exchange for signing the treaty the Hebridans are willing to pull their ships back from around your space and hand over this planet."

The seemingly emotionless Aschen just looked down on the pitiful Tau'ri before him. He firmly believed that the Tau'ri were still just as primitive as when they had been encountered all those years ago, and the apparent lack of weapons and low power readings of the ship he was facing. The Aschen might not be as powerful as they had once been but they had been rapidly rebuilding and were capable of dealing significant damage to the Hebridans. While their encirclement method might appear to cut them off they could punch through it at will.

"We can take that planet if we so wish, now get out of my way before we destroy your ship and then move on to your precious Earth."

Johnny narrowed his eyes menacingly. No one threatened his ship and Earth.

"That would be a mistake," he said in a dangerously low voice. "If you attack this ship then we will respond in kind and if you even think about attacking Earth then you'll learn that the Ori were the least of your worries."

"The Aschen Confederation cannot be beaten by the likes of you."

"Actually you overestimate your abilities."

"We shall see."

The Aschen flagship fired a volley of plasma bolts at the _Thor_. Johnny was proud to note that the shields on the battleship, which were actually slightly stronger than those of an O'Neill, barely even dropped by only a few percent. The ship hadn't even shaken as the dozen or so shots impacted the shield.

"You know I do actually have somewhere to be so why don't I make this simple for you," Johnny said.

He nodded at the weapons officer, who returned the nod and started entering commands. It was time for a little gunboat diplomacy.

Across the hull of the _Thor_ hatches that blended seamlessly with the hull depressed and slid open as numerous weapons rose into place. On the wings four hatches slid apart while the four side points of the kunai split open and massive domed beam emitters slid into position. A moment ago the ship had appeared harmless, but now she was covered in weapons. Her armaments consisted of 2 Hellstorm Cannons, 6 Grodins, 12 APB's, 16 ICT's, 76 Heavy X-699's and 6400 NPD's. Sensors were briefly blinded as the stealth technologies were overwhelmed by the massive amount of power flowing from the four large, most advanced, neutrino ion generators.

"This is what happens you go around threatening people's home planets and refusing very generous peace treaties," Johnny continued. "Especially my planet."

Targeting one of the drone fighter carriers the _Thor_ let loose with her Grodins. Six beams of white energy briefly shot out and skewered one of the drone carriers. Even against such a short burst of raw power the Aschen built shields folded instantly and the ship exploded violently as the beams tore through it. The follow up act was even more terrifying. The two magnetic accelerator cannons in the wings each fired a single Hellstorm round. The glowing white projectile soared through space at an incredible speed, each one orientated to target a different drone carrier. The shields of the drone carriers were useless against these weapons. The Tollan designed phase devices briefly activated, allowing the weapons to ignore the shields, before shorting out. Then the high intensity plasma field, similar to the one used in drones, combined with the projectiles high speed allowed it to drill through the carrier's outer armour.

Finally the timer on the Mark IX nuclear warheads ran down and the Hellstorm rounds detonated. Two new stars briefly burned, consuming the carriers in their fiery embrace and leaving very little in the way of debris. In a few seconds a good tonnage of the Aschen fleet had been destroyed. The detonation of the two Mark IX's had even stretched beyond their targets to destroy a number of drone fighters.

"So," Johnny continued. "How does that treaty sound now?"

"The treaty includes a non-aggression pact between the Aschen Confederation and the Tau'ri I believe?" the unnamed Aschen asked shakily.

"Indeed it does."

"I think it would be acceptable."

"You see I knew we could come to an agreement," Johnny said with an ear to ear grin. "And no one had to die either."

In the privacy of his mind he remembered one of the crown jewels of diplomacy, when you've got them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow.

* * *

**Present**

Johnny winced. "Sorry about that, we got a little delayed in our departure. I had to ditch Rak'nor's care package for Bra'tac on the outskirts of the galaxy when I heard what was happening here. I'll tell you all about it later. You gave me a scare there for a moment."

"Thank you for rescuing me. You and your brother seem to have that in common."

"It's who we are. What's the situation?"

"The fleet is now out of range of the majority of the planetary defences, although the drones could still reach us. Colonel Sheppard is attempting to take over the facilities on the moon but is encountering resistance. The defensive measures are proving to be difficult to overcome. We are exploring other means," Thor finished, mindful of the AI's presence.

"You will not succeed," Caretaker stated. "I will see you destroyed before you can even gleam the slightest insight into what you are up against."

"Friendly little glow ball isn't he. Still we've dealt with worse than him."

"I doubt that Inferior."

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Let me know if you want me to target the moon. I've got plenty of Hellstorm rounds ready to use."

"You will not be able to overcome the shields Inferior. Though it is a very capable weapon against large numbers of lightly protected targets an enhanced nuclear explosion is not strong enough to get through the moon facilities shields."

"We'll see glow ball," Johnny retorted, sharing a look with Thor.

"Hold your fire for now," Thor instructed.

"Will do."

"You know Asgardian my data files on your race suggested that your species was much intelligent than you have led me to believe," Caretaker continued.

"Is that so?" Thor replied, not really paying attention to the AI.

"Yes, however I now believe that that data has become corrupted. You cannot possibly succeed and yet you continue to act as though you have a chance of defeating the defences in place. Your weapons cannot possibly overcome the shields while they are active and yet you still persist. I can even tell you with some certainty that it would take dozens of drone weapons to make it through the energy matrix and yet you do not have such weapons at your disposal."

Thor just ignored the AI's ranting. He knew that it was just trying to goad him into giving away vital information about the Hellstorm rounds but he wasn't about to co-operate. The AI did have a point though about the effectiveness of Alteran drone weapons against the shields dense energy matrix but thankfully he wasn't planning on using them, not that he actually had any to use. Authentic Alteran drones were in very short supply.

"How long do you think it will be until the last of your soldiers die?" Caretaker asked casually.

Thor actually considered tossing the infernal avatar out of an airlock and using it for target practise and from the looks on some of the bridge crew's faces he wasn't the only one. At least in space no one would hear it whine…now that gave him an idea. The AI avatar was contained by a force field, which blocked air from passing through it but still allowed sound waves to travel. So with the twist of a control stone he vented the air from inside the force field and put a halt to its ranting. His only question was why hadn't he thought of that earlier?

* * *

"Rodney you better have something for me," Sheppard yelled over the sound of gunfire.

"Working on it."

Having finally pushed the androids back onto their home turf Sheppard was not in the mood to continue this fight any longer than necessary. He was literally in the lions den, the androids just kept on coming in a never ending stream and frankly he was beginning to wish he was somewhere else. True he was getting a constant stream of reinforcements of his own through the single ring platform and his soldiers were dropping like flies but it was a close thing.

Luckily though Rodney, and unknown to him their two Alteran helpers, were working on cracking this place's computer core and getting whatever useful information they could out it. Adding to that they had ringed up a scanning device that was even now feeding data about this place back to the fleet for analysis and things, by and large, could have been much worse. The only kicker though was that the android army didn't seem to be stopping in the slightest and if it came down to a war of attrition he had no doubt who would be the victor here.

It felt like they were being pinned, having not been able to make it much further than their initial entry point into the facility. The scanner readings they were getting though suggested that this place was much bigger than the underground facility but they weren't detecting many life signs, if any.

"Colonel Sheppard I believe I may have something for you," Thor interjected.

"Talk to me Thor."

"I have found several life signs in an area close to your location. They may be the humans we are looking for."

"How close?"

"Just beyond the central corridor."

Sheppard groaned. The central corridor was where most of the androids were coming from and the area they seemed to want to protect the most. They had actually made it deeper into the facility in the other areas but the guardian platforms hadn't budged an inch when it came to that area.

"I feel I should point out that any prisoners would be invaluable at this stage," Thor added. "The information they could provide would prove useful to us."

"Damn it you're right," Sheppard agreed, before he started yelling orders. "Okay people we're pushing forwards in the central corridor. I want everyone on full magazines and to stop pushing in other areas. All forces are to focus exclusively on pushing into this area until I say so. This is top priority."

It took a moment for the orders to spread to the other areas and for the necessary troops to shuffle around and reload. Finally though they were ready and Sheppard, backed by dozens of soldiers and even the SPECTREs, charged into the fire. Energy bolts and railgun rounds flew through the air as the allied forces stormed the gates of hell. There was only so fast though that new androids could replace those that had fallen and eventually all of the entry points that weren't corridors had been sealed, or rather blown up.

When Sheppard and the others finally pushed through to the room beyond they found a sight they definitely hadn't been expecting. The room held stasis pods, many of which had been removed from their housings and the rest were empty. Moving on they entered the next room and found it too completely empty. Once again the housings for stasis pods were there but the pods themselves were gone. They moved on again, down a corridor and found a heavily armoured door and two dozen guardian platforms guarding it. Needless to say the resulting fire fight had been brutal and the once pristine walls were now permanently marked. The floor was covered with the debris of destroyed androids, spent magazines and the debris of doors of alcoves that had had more than a few grenades tossed into them for good measure. The door however wasn't showing signs that it had even been aware that a near constant stream of trinium tipped rounds had been fired at it. There was hardly a dent on it, aside from a few scratch marks. When Vejovis had designed this door he hadn't been kidding around, if he wanted it to remain closed then it was going to.

"Alright, someone get me some X-699's down here to blast through this thing," Sheppard ordered. "I am not going to be stopped by a closed door."

"Yes sir."

"Rodney, what's behind this door?"

"I haven't been able to hack those systems yet," Rodney replied. "I'm working on…what…hang on a second he can't hear you…"

"Rodney?"

"Not you Sheppard…ok you can talk now."

"Colonel Sheppard," said a new and slightly familiar voice. "We are working on accessing the data registry for that room but we need time. However I am confident that by the time you breach what I believe to quite thick doors I will have an answer for you."

"I know this voice. Who is this?"

"Why Colonel I'm shocked that you don't remember me."

"He's Janus," a second, female, and familiar voice said.

"And she's Morgan," Janus shot back.

"What are you two doing here?" Sheppard asked incredulously.

"As far as you're concerned we're not here," Morgan replied.

"Why?"

"Because helping you is against the rules," Janus replied. "So we can't be here, ergo we're not."

Sheppard didn't even need to think about this. "Okay, makes perfect sense to me."

"Glad to hear it," Janus replied.

As this conversation was, against all evidence, not going on three X-699's had been set up in front of the door. Set to target the same small area of the door the three opened fire and started cutting into the apparently quite thick and tough metal.

"Anything in the computer?" Sheppard asked.

"Well I've found vague references in the database to an energy matrix compressor and fuser," Morgan said.

"Okay what's that?"

"No idea," Janus answered.

Sheppard sighed. "Anyone else know?"

"No," McKay and Morgan replied.

"Please tell me that isn't the best you have come up with."

"Do you want to try hacking what can only be called a two way data stream if you use the term loosely?" Janus asked indignantly.

"Sorry," Sheppard apologised quickly.

"We're working on it but we need time," Morgan said.

"Okay fine, just let me know when you have something."

By now the door was beginning to lose a large amount of its top layer, a little more continuous fire and it would be breached.

"Colonel Sheppard," Thor said. "I have something to report. The life sign count in the facility appears to be dropping."

"How many people have we lost?" Sheppard asked, fearing the worst.

"None, the life signs do not belong to our forces."

"The people behind this door?"

"I believe so. I cannot account for why though."

"We'll find out soon."

* * *

"Curious," Janus said as he examined the data being displayed on his screen.

"What's curious?" Rodney asked.

"I'm finding constant references to this energy matrix compressor and fuser device in the database," Janus replied.

"Testing logs, priority maintenance, numerous expansions," Morgan noted as she rifled through the data. "Whatever it is it seems to be important."

"So we know what is on the other side of the room but haven't a clue what it does," Rodney said. "Just great."

"Well we know it's important," Janus said.

"But what does it do?" Rodney asked.

"Hmm," Janus said thoughtfully as he rubbed his jaw. "Well let's look at the facts. It clearly has something to do with bonding two matrices together and presumably the aim is for the end matrix to be denser than the original. The question is why they need something like that and why is it so heavily guarded?"

"And what type of energy they are feeding into it," Morgan added.

"It could be anything," Rodney pointed out.

"True," Janus agreed. "In theory if you could maintain a stable matrix for its base form you could combine anything."

"Anything," Morgan echoed as her eyes started to widen.

"Anything," Janus said as realisation struck him.

Without saying another word both ascended started typing furiously on the control panels in front of them.

"Am I missing something?" Rodney asked.

"I hope not," Janus said. "Because this is one time I would very much like to be wrong."

"I don't think you are," Morgan said. "Especially if you're thinking what I'm thinking."

Janus frowned. "That's the problem. I am thinking what you're thinking."

"Do I want to know?" Rodney asked.

"No," Janus and Morgan said in unison.

* * *

"Hey Thor," Johnny said. "My guys are getting some strange power readings from that death moon. Are you getting them too?"

"I am," Thor replied. "I believe it indicates something is activating."

Power signatures on the moon were fluctuating every few seconds and the readings powerful enough to break through the sensor shielding. Whatever was happening, it was big.

"Supreme Commander," said an Asgardian. "I have found something you should see."

"On screen," Thor ordered.

The display changed to focus on a patch of the moons surface. It wasn't obvious at first but a long dark x shape was forming on the surface, and it took the onlookers to realise what it was.

"It's a door," Thor said out loud.

"A very big door," Johnny added.

Fully open now, the door revealed a dark pit going deep into the moon that was easily a kilometre across and possibly even two.

"Energy readings and life signs detected Supreme Commander. Something is emerging."

From the depths of the pit emerged a sight that had not been seen for a long time. An Alteran ship that was similar to an Aurora class. Unlike the _Aurora_, _Orion_ and _Tria_ or the former Traveller vessel this ship showed no signs of damage, nor any signs that it had ever been anywhere near a battle before. Her hull was pristine, completely unmarked and for all anyone knew the vessel could have been brand new. As she rose out of the deep pit her shields glowed as they touched with the defensive shield protecting the moon in its entirety.

"Damn it," Johnny whispered. "Hellstorm rounds are no good against that thing."

"I know," Thor said. "We'll have to either engage it in standard combat, or let it go."

Due to the nature of the Hellstorm rounds they wouldn't be effective against the conformal shields of an Alteran vessel. With the shields so close to the hull they would likely de-phase inside a wall and thus making the weapons useless.

"Thor with that door open our sensors can penetrate deeper into the facility," Johnny said. "Thor, there are only a few life signs in that facility that aren't ours, and they're dropping."

"They're evacuating," Thor realised. "That ship is a life boat. We need to stop it."

But no sooner had he said the word than the unnamed Alteran vessel jumped into hyperspace, fleeing the scene as fast as its engines would allow.

"Can we track it?" Johnny asked.

"They're blocking us somehow," Thor replied.

"For crying out loud!"

"Colonel Sheppard, we have a problem."

* * *

"I copy that Thor," Sheppard said. "I'm about to breach the door. I'll be taking prisoners."

The now burnt and battered blast door finally yielded to the combined might of the energy cannons directed at it and shattered inwards. With a few good kicks from a servo enhanced armoured boot the remaining twisted metal finally gave in as well and they were in. As they stepped over the threshold they were nearly blinded by a bright light emanating from a tank at the end of the room. Averting his gaze from the dazzling sight Sheppard took note of the dozen plus stasis pods in the room, each with a conduit leading to the central tank, some of which were occupied by a man. Just the one man, because every figure in those occupied pods was the same height, weight, age and even had the same face. There were only a handful of them that were occupied now but it was undoubtedly the same person in each of them.

From some unseen source a voice rang throughout the room and a question was asked.

"How does someone become stronger without changing themselves in any way? The answer…well that should be obvious by now."

* * *

**Please Review.**


	77. Reveals

**So who figured out the answer to the question Vejovis posed? How does someone become stronger without changing themselves in any way?**

* * *

"What the hell is that?" Sheppard asked out loud as he was almost blinded by the glowing mass in the tank. "Who the hell is that talking?"

"It's Vejovis," Janus said through the com.

"Where is he?"

"Judging from the images being transmitted from your suit…those pods."

"They're all Vejovis?!"

"I'm afraid so, that was his solution."

"You make more of yourself and you grow stronger," Sheppard realised. "That's the answer."

"Such a limited imagination, so…human," Vejovis mocked. "The answer is not simply to make more of you, but to become more of yourself. To gain more of yourself."

"What does that mean?" McKay asked.

"Watch little human," Vejovis said, apparently having heard him. "Watch and maybe you will learn how limited your minds are."

In the pods the eyes of the Vejovis clones shot open. The Tau'ri and Asgard Valkyries in the room could only watch as the beings bodies warped and changed, turning into pure energy. Each and every one of the clones had ascended upon waking. Instead of leaving for a higher plain however their energy forms were sucked out of the pods and into the conduits. The conduits actually glowed as the ascended beings passed through them before they reached the large tank. As the forms hung around the central glowing mass like planets around a star an energy field started to glow around the tank, collapsing inwards until the ascended were pushed into the large glowing blob of energy. It mere moments the original glowing mass was all that remained. With its task complete the machine shut down and the compressive energy field shut down, allowing the energy being inside the tank to emerge. The glowing mass changed, growing arms, legs and a head until it was once again Vejovis, lighting bolts flickering across his body.

"Do you understand now?" he asked, his face set in stone.

In a split second Janus and Morgan were in front of him.

"What have you done Vejovis?" Morgan asked, horrified at what she had just seen.

"What I must to see this through without our kind interfering," Vejovis replied calmly.

"How?" Janus asked. "It shouldn't be possible to simply merge two ascended together even if the two do share the same DNA. This…you, you shouldn't exist!"

"They weren't simply clones of my body Janus," Vejovis replied. "They were complete copies of me, mind and body. That is what makes this possible. At first it was simply a matter of merging two identical beings together, but now I am so powerful, so complex, that I assimilate them into my very essence. Their strength becomes my own and I am now the most powerful ascended being in existence. You thought I was like the Ori? The Ori were pathetic, leaching power from their blind worshippers like parasites. I don't need followers since my own body now generates as much power by itself than Adria ever had. And unlike her I can maintain this power in my body and replenish it. Do you see now? I have no weakness for you to exploit, no power source that you can sever my connection to. I am power and you cannot hope to challenge me!"

"So why use this power to support a monster like Zarin?" Morgan asked. "Or have you really become so twisted that you see him as an ally?"

"Don't be foolish Ganos," Vejovis chastised. "Zarin is a tool, nothing more. He will unite the people of this galaxy and exterminate the Wraith for their crimes. Then a new order will be brought to this galaxy, one where Zarin is not at the top."

"And then what?" Janus demanded. "You rule over the people of this galaxy as a tyrant? Making them bow down to your will? How is that better?"

"No," Vejovis stated flatly. "I will not be the one to shelter and guide the lesser races. That task is reserved for my children."

"What children?"

"I have not been idle these past centuries. When I realised that Zarins plan had merit I decided to alter it. The Zarasians will not be the rulers of this galaxy or any other. My children, the children of our kind, will be the ones to do so. That is how I have assured the future."

"You would revive the Alteran race?" Janus asked, shocked at what it would mean.

The last incarnation of their civilisation, the Lanteans, had vanished from this plain of existence over ten thousand years ago. The Alteran race now existed solely as ascended beings and nearly all the remnants of their former civilisation had fallen to the ravages of time. Atlantis was the last standing monument to their race's technological prowess and that had barely survived.

"I already have," Vejovis said proudly. "My children live Janus. They are safely away from here, sleeping, waiting for the time that they are ready to take on their mantle. Once Zarin has completed his work here they will be ready to guide the seedlings and restore our great race to its former glory."

"At what cost?" Sheppard asked, finally daring to speak.

Vejovis merely stared at the human, as though he had found an interesting insect.

"You want the Alterans back on this plain of existence that's fine by me," Sheppard said. "I know a lot a people who would welcome them back, hell a friend of mine would probably sign up to one of your universities just so he could learn from you. But not like this. We don't want rulers, we want to be free. We gave up slavery and that whole master race crap a long time ago on my world. Your people want to help us, teach us about the universe then that's all well and good. We know we have a lot to learn but we won't pay the price of our freedom. We won't be ruled over, not by your race or any other."

"You don't see it do you? How insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things?" Vejovis asked, like he was talking to a particularly dense child. "You are just a tiny cell of this great thing you call the universe. No more powerful than a bug in the grand scheme of things. My people have been around for millions of years. We crossed galaxies before your race was walking on two legs. Without us you would stumble across the universe blindly, not truly realising what you see around you. You think you are free, you are rampant! You spread like a virus, fighting each other, fighting anyone you come across or deem a threat. I have seen your world and it is chaos, no unity, no order. My children could give you it all; order, enlightenment, knowledge and protection. But no, you would turn aside these gifts for a path that could eventually lead you to self destruct!"

"We're not perfect," Sheppard said.

"No, but then neither were we or your kind Vejovis," Thor said, as his hologram appeared beside his human ally. "You fought with the Ori, split from them and eventually left this plain because of them. They are a young race, but the Asgard have seen that they have great potential and we are proud to call them allies and the Fifth Race. Just as we were proud to call you allies before you abandoned this plain. It is thanks to them that my race still lives and if they make mistakes we will be there to help them, because that is what allies are supposed to do for one another."

"You dare," Vejovis growled, finally losing his cool.

"Leave the lower plains alone Vejovis," Thor stated. "This is our domain now, not yours. Find another galaxy for your children to live in, preferably an empty one."

"I have no quarrel with you Asgardian," Vejovis stated. "But you should know that your race in its current state cannot hope to stop the numbers that Zarin commands."

"You underestimate the ingenuity of the Alliance of Great Races," Thor replied. "We have much at our disposal that you have yet to see. Zarin will have a much harder time than you believe."

"I can see that trying to persuade you is pointless. Very well then, I shall just have to clean up my mess and be on my way. Caretaker!"

"Yes Master?" asked a familiar orb, dropping out of a hatch in the ceiling.

"Activate self destruct and set it to fifteen minutes. That should give you all enough time to get out of here and keep the others happy that I am not interfering, just cleaning up after myself."

"Self destruct activated. Countdown is set for fifteen minutes. Detonation of lunar, surface and subterranean facilities in fifteen minutes."

"All forces commence full retreat!" Sheppard ordered. "All ships be ready to bug out immediately once all forces are aboard."

"You're bluffing," Thor said. "You'll disengage the self destruct the moment we're gone."

Vejovis smirked. "But only so long as you are gone. It's your choice, stay and die or leave and live. Make sure you pick the right one."

He looked at the two ascended beings. "Now as for you two. As you are no doubt aware the conversion process strips down our bodies to the bare minimum needed for survival and the remaining matter is converted into the energy equivalent needed to vaporise it. As a result each ascended being has approximately the same level of power, with the difference being so marginal that it is practically insignificant."

He flicked his wrists and Morgan and Janus collapsed, panting, as they were struck by a surge of directed power.

"You two were just struck by ninety nine percent of my original forms power. Just a little guarantee that you won't be interfering any time soon." He noted the shocked faces of the organic and synthetic life forms in the room. "Oh don't worry about these two. I'm not going to kill them since that isn't my nature. However I will be taking them away from here for now."

They could only watch on as he willed their bodies into the air, leaving them hanging like puppets on strings. In a flash they were gone, leaving the corporeal beings alone in the room.

"If it comes down to it we can't fight something like him," Sheppard noted. "After all this time he could powerful enough to take on the whole ascended collective."

"I know," Thor replied. "However there might just be a way, a weapon capable of dealing with him."

Sheppard's eyes widened. "Damn it, we need to talk to Tomin."

"That could be a problem."

"Why?"

"I am receiving a distress call from his ship."

"So much for radio silence. Let's just hope the Zarasians don't pick it up. As soon as we get everyone aboard set a course for the Liberum fleet."

"Anything else you would like me to do?" Thor asked, and Sheppard could have sworn that there was a hint of sarcasm in that voice.

"Yeah start beaming out everyone you can before this damn self destruct goes off."

As an afterthought he fired off a burst from his rifle and into the large tank, shattering the glass into a million pieces. As he walked out of the room with his rifle slung over his soldier he tossed a thermal grenade into the remains of the open tank. As the door whisked shut behind him the room was engulfed by a small explosion as the grenade detonated. The glass covers of the stasis pods shattered and the energy matrix compression machine was wrecked beyond repair, short of having every single component replaced. As they left the allied soldiers planted explosives and destroyed every piece of valuable technology they could find. Vejovis may be planning on reclaiming this facility at some point but he was going to have to do some extensive repairs after the allies finally left.

* * *

Onboard the _O'Neill_ Thor patiently waited for the self destruct countdown to elapse. The last of the alliance soldiers had been beamed up moments ago and now they were waiting just to see if they needed to leave one final parting gift.

"Supreme Commander the countdown has expired and there is no change to the enemy structures."

Thor mused on the implications. It meant that Vejovis had simply used the ploy as a way to force the allies to retreat. He must have known that the allies could not afford to simply throw away lives in what would have been a futile endeavour to potentially capture some Lantean level technology.

"It figures," Johnny said, his hologram standing next to the Supreme Commander. "He would have been nuts to blow up a fortress like that."

"Yes he would have been," Thor agreed.

Johnny smiled a grin that would have made a shark proud. "Guess we'll just have to do it ourselves. With your permission of course Supreme Commander."

"There is no need to waste ammunition," Thor replied. "One round into the hanger should be sufficient for now. We'll come back later if necessary."

"Are you insane Asgardian?" Caretaker asked. "You have nothing capable of overwhelming the shielding on the lunar facility before you are destroyed. If you wish to continue this suicidal action then, by all means, please continue and I will update my databanks on your species to include a penchant for futile attacks."

Thor turned to look at the AI which he would like nothing better than to use for Grodin target practise. He had deliberately returned air to the containment field just so that he could get a little revenge on the annoying glow ball.

"Watch," he stated simply.

"Watch what?"

"This," Thor replied proudly as a glowing yellow projectile shot from one of the Hellstorm cannons of the _Thor_. "I have found that if the Tau'ri specialise in one thing it is in making powerful weapons. This is their latest creative innovation and now you shall bear witness to the power of Hellstorm."

Caretaker watched as the projectile moved at speeds almost to fast for the human eye to follow but were simple for the AI's artificial eye and the facility sensors. In a fraction of a second it crossed the distance to the lunar shield. Caretaker expected the projectile to strike the shield. It had seen the weapon in action already and while the explosive power was impressive the shield was more than capable of withstanding such a blast. What seemingly defied all reason though was when the projectile passed through the impenetrable shield and pierced the hanger entrance doors like they were both nothing. Part of the advanced AI's subroutines was trying to determine just how in the name of its creators that was actually possible. But another part of it was acknowledging the fact that a nuclear device with a blast radius of over two hundred kilometres was now inside the lunar facilities walls. For the first time in its existence the AI felt what could only be described as fear.

It did not have time to dwell on those feelings though, or even acknowledge them however as said device promptly exploded. The explosion wasn't visible from the surface of course since it was, after all, near the centre of the moon. However it was more than visible to Caretaker since the AI experienced it close up. The hanger was the first thing to go. The walls, which admittedly were fairly sturdy, were nowhere near strong enough to withstand the naquadria enhanced blast at close range. The explosion quickly spread outwards after that, piercing through internal walls like they were nothing. Nothing could stand in the explosions path and when it finally relented, when the blast finally reached its maximum range, the majority of the lunar facility was a smoking ruin. Very little had been left intact and only the most valuable, most heavily fortified parts of the structure, had survived the blast wave. Ironically one of these things happened to be the central computer core that housed Caretaker which meant the AI was able to determine the full extent of the damage. Needless to say the normally quite vocal AI was rendered speechless. It couldn't even begin to calculate how long it would take to repair, no not repair restore, the facility to its former state.

"So what do you think?" Thor asked.

"I don't think he can," Johnny said, with an ear to ear grin. "Although I'm pretty impressed that the shield is still intact after that explosion, guess the generators must have been shielded."

"It is of no consequence," Thor replied. "It is time to go."

"Im…im…poss…ib…le…IMPOSSIBLE!" Caretaker eventually managed.

"So he can think," Johnny noted. "But apparently can't believe it."

"Jump to hyperspace," Thor ordered.

As the fleet vanished into hyperspace Caretaker, for some unknown reason, started screaming as though it were in absolute agony, at which point Thor silenced him again.

* * *

**Jaffa Fleet**

Those ships which could be repaired had been. All but two of the type D's now had hyperdrive by rerouting power through secondary conduits. The type C's however were not designed with as many redundancies and the damage inflicted had been severe. Only three of them had operational hyperdrives, making a total of nine ships capable of escaping the force that would soon be upon them. The infestation had been ground to a halt but the damage had been done, it was a miracle that not one ship had suffered a reactor breach. Actually it was probably down to the sheer paranoia of the Goa'uld that accounted for the protective shielding that had withstood the detonations. To think the Jaffa actually had something to thank the snakes for after all these years.

To say that Bra'tac was worried would be an understatement of epic proportions. They simply couldn't get the people and supplies off the ships and through the stargate fast enough. Their ships were large but the life support systems could only accommodate so many people at a time. Worse if they didn't leave soon then the enemy really would be upon them.

"What is our status?" he asked.

"We won't have enough time Master," a crewman replied, hearing the real question.

"Prioritise personnel over equipment," Bra'tac ordered calmly. He was supposed to be a symbol of order and could not let his true feelings be known.

"We already are Master."

I know Bra'tac thought, oh do I know.

"Master! Hyperspace window opening!"

The Zarasians are here, Bra'tac thought. There was choice but to flee with whoever they could take.

"Order all ships that can…" Bra'tac began before he was interrupted.

"It's the _Arima_ and her escorts."

The Wraith flagship and her thirty sentinels, they couldn't ask for better reinforcements.

"Master Bra'tac," Echidna said. "My apologies for my tardiness but I was otherwise occupied. We are ready to assist you. How many ships do you have operational?"

"Nine of my ships, including this one, can escape from here. The rest are beyond repair in the time we have."

"Very well then I will take nine of them in the _Arima_'s internal carrying space but the rest must be abandoned. I suggest you set them to self destruct."

"Nine?"

"Nine," Echidna stated firmly.

"Very well then."

Bra'tac turned to his communications officer. "Order our least damaged ships without working hyperdrives to dock inside the _Arima_. The rest are to be set to self destruct."

"Master do you not think that we could stay and maybe even…"

"I do not!" Bra'tac snapped. "You have your orders Jaffa. Kree!"

"Yes Master."

Of course Bra'tac wanted to fight, his pride demanded it. His experience though overrode his pride and told him how foolish it would be. The Zarasians knew where they were! Their fastest ships could be on them in an instant without any warning, a likely outcome considering that the Arima and the Wraith Matriarch that controlled it would be a highly prized target. He himself would not hesitate to exploit the opportunity so why would Zarin? The answer, he wouldn't. The _Arima_ and her sentinels were a powerful force, easily capable of overwhelming most fleets, but should the _Arima_ fall then the Wraith would be dealt a crippling blow. He really did not want to think what the Wraith Empire would be like without Echidna to keep them in line. Frankly he didn't trust most of the queens and current commanders as far as he could throw them and neither did a lot of people. In his mind they hadn't earned it just yet.

Eighteen Jaffa ships left that system with the _Arima_ and her sentinels. Six remained behind to be destroyed as their naquadah generators overloaded. When the Zarasians finally arrived they found nothing but debris.

* * *

**_Liberatus_**

The Liberum flagship was in trouble. That much was obvious. The entire ship was crawling with the strange robotic insects. There had originally been others on the other ships of the fleet but that was now in the past. The strange bugs had somehow tapped into the ring platform controls and ringed almost all their number aboard the _Liberatus_ before those that remained self destructed, rendering the ring platforms out of action for the time being. Their intention here was now obvious. They didn't mean to sabotage this ship but capture her. They were systematically wiping out anyone who opposed them and it was only a matter of time before the entirety of the ship fell under their control. The _Liberatus_ was operating under a skeleton crew with the majority of the Liberum soldiers on other ships or receiving medical treatment on Concordia after the battle on Calium. They had no way to get additional troops aboard the ship and the bridge was in danger of falling under their control. The only other area of the ship being defended so heavily was the primary generator, or more specifically the containment field generator protecting the ship from the radiation being produced by the miniature sun powering the ship. If that system failed then the entire crew would be killed due to radiation poisoning, and not even a Prior could survive that.

Tomin was standing strong on the bridge, while the pests swarmed at him. No matter how many he cut down there seemed to be more and more of them. Some of them were even making kamikaze strikes against the defenders around the bridge, getting close before self destructing. Men, good men, had died as a result, wounded beyond the help of the finest medicine. If the brain is destroyed not even a sarcophagus would be able to mend the damage. Technology has its limits after all.

Outside the bridge, surrounded by his loyal soldiers, Tomin fought with fire, electricity and even telekinesis in a bid to hold back the never ending wave of insects. The tapping. The constant never ending tapping. Even over the sound of battle he could hear it and it was beginning to drive him mad. He was not the only one. Some soldiers were firing now just so that it wasn't so loud.

"Caius, Andose, status report!"

"We can't hold them," Andose replied, and Tomin could sense the older mans fear.

"We need help," Caius added. "We need your help."

"If we lose the bridge we're finished," Tomin retorted.

"If we lose containment we're dead!"

"I will not debate this!"

"You don't need to," another Prior on a different ship added. "The bridge is already lost. I…I can hear them screaming."

"What are you talking…about…" Tomin began before trailing off as he too heard the screams from behind him, from inside the bridge.

As his concentration slipped his telepathy allowed him to hear the mental cries from all around him.

It was almost as though someone was shouting in his ear, "They're in the walls!"

Wordlessly he turned and opened the door to the bridge. Suddenly the corridor was filled with blood curdling screams as the bridge crew were revealed to him. The bugs were everywhere, crawling over the bridge control panels and the tearing into the poor souls that manned them. Blood ran thick on the floor, pouring out into the corridor now that the door was open and the dam holding it back was gone. Tomin had to resist the urge to throw up. There was so much blood! Surely so much blood could not have come from a mere six people and yet the evidence was right there in front of him. The screams had finally stopped but in the back of his mind Tomin knew that didn't mean they were dead yet, just that the creatures ripping at their throats had finally severed vocal cords. Tomin did the only he could do, he raised his hands and used the skill that Andose had recently taught him. Arcs of lightning erupted from his palm to strike at consoles and the bugs that had pierced them with cables running from their bodies. In moments the consoles were rendered useless. The bridge had been lost. There was no point staying here.

"They tapped into your com system. They sent out a signal."

Tomin silently closed the door and turned around. Though he made no sound he let the full force of his pent up rage out in the only productive way he knew how. Lighting erupted from his hands as he strode forwards. The Liberum soldiers followed behind quickly behind him, finishing off those that his lightning had failed to completely destroy.

"Andose, Caius, we're coming to you now."

* * *

**Please Review.**


	78. Reflection

**Concordia**

A hyperspace window opened and the _Arima_ and her escorts reappeared in normal space. The mighty fleet quickly found itself surrounded by hundreds of AI controlled F-302's as they responded automatically to the arrival. The hounds were immediately called off the moment the IFF readings identified the Wraith flagship and the remnants of the Jaffa fleet and continued their patrol runs around the planet. The _Arima_ gently glided through space and eventually found a place in orbit. This was harder than you might think considering the amount of defensive satellites and small space stations, that acted as space based hangers for the fighters, also in orbit. There were also numerous ships around the planet, mostly belonging to the Travellers but there shorter, if not exactly smaller, of the two was about two kilometres long, a kilometre wide and similar to the flagship used by Apophis, but lacked the adjustable wings. This version was shaped more like an equilateral triangle rather an equilateral and possessed larger amounts of dark armour reaching up to cover the majority of the central pyramid. One hundred and fifty heavy staff cannons and five hundred point defence guns were scattered across her hull and a shield eight times stronger than a type D protected her. She was of course the latest Jaffa flagship, much to the surprise of the other Alliance members and especially the Tau'ri. They never knew that it was being planned, let alone built by the Jaffa. It would later come out that the Jaffa had utilised the basic designs and construction facilities on the ruins of Delmak and had seen about constructing a ship with power generators taking up the majority of the interior space.

The longer ship was quite possibly the only intact Aurora class vessel left in the galaxy, if not the universe, the _Tria_. She was thought to be the Lanteans front line warship during the Wraith war, although by Tau'ri standards she wasn't a proper warship and had set about rectifying that fact. Since her time spent over Concordia she had been heavily upgraded to feature the latest in Asgard and Tau'ri technologies, making her into a dreadnought. The name _Tria_ had never been more appropriate. The large sensor array meant for scientific analysis had been stripped out and replaced with four Hellstorm cannons, with a pair of Grodins on the top and bottom. There were another two Grodins and one double the size and strength on the nose of the ship, along with another four on the neck. The true power of the ship came from the devastating broadsides she was capable of dishing out from the numerous secondary weapons lined along her hull. On her left were ten APBs, twenty two ICTs and of course the two Grodins on the Hellstorm battery. On her right were fifteen APBs and eighteen ICTs. For close in defence four drone launchers drew from stores holding a total of ten thousand NPD's and spread evenly across her hull were one hundred and fifty two triple mounts consisting of two heavy X-699's and a single railgun. That made for a grand total of a Super Grodin, 4 Hellstorm Cannons, 8 Grodins, 25 APBs, 40 ICTs, 152 railgun/heavy X-699 tri-mounts and 10,000 NPDs from 8 launchers. Aside from the sensor array the internal schematics had also been re-configured. Standard ship sensors had been installed, the operating system replaced and upgraded to include an ISIS and the hyperdrive upgraded to an intergalactic model. With eight large neutrino ion generators serving to power weapons, primary systems and a shield twice as strong as the _Thor_'s she was the most powerful vessel in the Alliance fleet.

This powerful vessel was the best hope to take on the Zarasian fleet and more importantly the _Doom Bringer_. It was for this reason she was being deployed now to the location of the Liberum fleet.

* * *

**Deep Space – Aurora class vessel**

Having dumped the other two ascended in a distant part of a neighbouring galaxy to make the long dreary journey home Vejovis strode through the ships corridors. His final sanctuary, the place which he had called his place of solitude for so long, was gone. It would take a long time to restore it to its former state. Long ago an entire age in history could pass in the blink of an eye. Now though time seemed to last longer, if that were even possible. When he had first ordered the lunar facilities construction it had seemed to be completed in no time at all. It depended on your perspective and what was happening in the universe he supposed. Over nine thousand years had gone by with very little change on a galactic scale but now so much happened in such a short amount of time. In the past two years the humans of Earth had emerged as a galactic superpower, growing stronger with every passing minute. Great alliances had been forged between old and powerful races. Even the Wraith had changed in recent years.

But despite the changes they had undergone nothing could wipe the Wraiths slate clean. For millennia they had culled and feasted upon the lives of good and innocent people, offering life to those who bowed down before them and death to those who stood against them. Live lying down or die on your feet, the ironic demand of all of histories oppressors. The Wraith had annihilated so many civilisations in their apparently futile attempt to stay at the top of the food chain. The Lanteans, the Satedans and the Genii confederation to name but a few. All of them had been struck down, beaten into near extinction or driven underground. And he had sworn that for their crimes the Wraith would pay. They would be wiped from existence, what he had set in motion would see to that.

The events of the last few days replayed in his mind over and over again as he arrived at his destination. At the one stasis pod which had not needed to be loaded onto this ship before its departure. The one pod which he had sworn to himself that he would preserve above all others, no matter the cost. He would willingly, but not gladly, sacrifice all of his, their, children for the sake of saving this one pod. Without the woman in this pod the Alteran people could never become the great civilisation. He may teach his children values but this woman embodied them. He reached out and his fingers brushed against the clear cover, as if he was stroking his beloved's cheek. For hours he stood their and stared at Cura's unconscious form.

How many years had it been since their last conversation? He couldn't remember thankfully, he had tried so hard to forget. But although he could no longer remember how long ago it had been he could never forget the words that had been spoken.

* * *

It was centuries ago when it happened. After all this time he remembered so clearly. Possibly this was a side effect of merging his consciousness with his clones so many times, with the memories closest to the surface being made sharper and sharper, despite how hard he tried to forget them.

The lunar facility was still under construction but a number of sections were complete, one of them being the energy matrix compression and fusion device. Vejovis had just finished using said device when Cura appeared. Beautiful, wonderful, innocent, kind hearted Cura.

"So this is where you've been hiding," she said, radiating a feeling of utter contempt.

"Is there something wrong Cura?" he had asked innocently as he retook humanoid form.

She had scowled at him. "You know exactly what is wrong."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to be a little more specific."

"The Zarasians!" she spat. "That…that machine!"

"Ah."

She had started looking downwards at that point, unwilling to look him in the eye.

"Is that all you have to say?" she whispered.

"How much do you know?" he asked.

"Why? How much more is there to know?" she asked him as tears started to blossom. "I know you've turned Zarin into your puppet and that you're using that machine to grow stronger. That you plan to have him conquer this galaxy in your name and exterminate the Wraith."

"You have to admit though that exterminating the Wraith isn't that bad," he had replied casually and immediately regretted it when she started to weep.

"What happened to you Vejovis?" she wept. "What happened to the man I fell in love with? When did you become so cold?"

"Cura I didn't mean…I'm sorry," he said as he wrapped his arms around her despite her attempts to push him away. "Please Cura let me explain. It's not what you think. Just let me explain. Please."

"Why should I trust anything you say?" she whispered bitterly.

"Because in all the years we've known each other I have never once lied to you," he whispered back. "And I won't lie to you about this."

"So tell me then," she said as she gently forced her way out of his grasp. He hadn't tried to stop her.

He gently took hold of her hand. "Come with me."

He had taken her to another room, a room filled with dozens of occupied stasis pods.

"They've grown quickly," he noted.

"What are they?" she asked, transfixed by the sight of these familiar individuals.

"I suppose they could be called our children, both mine and yours."

"Our children…but how did you?" she began to ask before he had cut her off.

"I grew them, using strands of DNA collected over the years. But each of them possesses trace elements of our DNA which makes them our children."

"Vejovis we had a child…"

"Had a child, past tense, the Wraith saw to that."

"There was nothing you could do. Our son chose to fight them."

"And because of them he is no more. We lost our child and he can never be replaced but these are our children now, the ones we must be concerned about."

She had stared him, with those two big blue wide eyes that he could drown in. "Why this? Why create them?"

"Because they are the future," he explained. "The future of our people, this galaxy and so many others like it. What I have set in motion will eventually see our race restored and a new age of prosperity and enlightenment for the whole universe."

"Vejovis I don't understand. What are you planning?"

"They are asleep now but soon they will awaken," he explained. "I have taught them all I know, about right and wrong and the values our people held dear. When Zarin has finished his work they will claim the human worlds as their own and rule them wisely. Zarin has instructions to serve them as if they were me. He will be the blade that strikes down the Wraith while our children will be the healers that mend the damage wrought by millennia under their control. Then they will expand outwards, bringing more and more galaxies under their rule. The parasite Goa'uld will be wiped out and the humans of that galaxy brought into their welcome embrace." He grasped her hands and smiled at her. "Can you see it Cura? The wonders that will exist in just a few centuries. After millennia and near extinction our people will be restored."

But instead of the dazzling smile he so desperately wanted to see on her face she had only a look of sadness.

"And what about you?" she asked. "Will you rule over them all at the top of this great empire? Will you continue to use that machine to grow stronger until you can take on the entire ascended collective? Will you send out Zarin to conquer world after world and pretend your hands are clean?"

"If I must grow powerful enough to stop the others from interfering then yes I will," he replied. "But I will not lead our children and if they wish to discard Zarin when they awaken then they are free to do so. It does not matter to me."

"Then what will you do?"

"I will exile myself, never to use the power I have gained," he had replied. "I know what you are thinking, what you fear, but I will not be like the Ori."

"Then I will come with you."

"No my love you will not. Exile is for me alone, not you, never you."

"I won't let you do this Vejovis, it isn't right. Please Vejovis don't do this, don't leave me," she pleaded. "Let the Averians solve the problems of the universe, like we planned. I won't allow it Vejovis, I'll stop you. No matter what it takes."

What he did next had taken all his willpower. "Come with me, there is one last thing I have to show you."

He had taken her to another stasis pod, but this one was empty.

"It's empty," she noted. "Is this for more of our children?"

The pod cover slid open with a thought from him. "Oh there are many, many more pods for our children, but no this is not for them. It's for you."

Her eyes had widened with shock as he struck at her with his power. At first she had tried to fight back but it was useless. He had grown so many times stronger since she had last seen him and his power enveloped her completely, beating her down until her resistance was gone in a matter of moments. Then when she was as weak as a new born he forced her back into a corporeal form. When she was flesh and blood once more he cradled her in his arms and stroked her hair.

"Do not worry Cura I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered in her ear. "I would never hurt you. I just couldn't let you get hurt so I had to do this. You'll sleep now and when you awaken our people will be reborn."

He tenderly kissed her forehead before placing her in the pod. "I will not lead our children and the reborn Alteran Empire my love, you will."

* * *

With those final words he had activated the stasis pod, turned and left and never looked back, until now. Now when all the little doubts he had had over the years but pushed to the back of his mind hit him all at once. As he stared at her sleeping form he couldn't help but wonder if Cura had been right. Perhaps he should have just left the Averians alone. Perhaps he shouldn't have shown an ambitious military man named Zarin where to find the body of the Wraith Queen he and Cura had recovered. Perhaps it wasn't too late to fix things. Perhaps he could still leave this galaxy with Cura, be happy with her.

All these thoughts and more flickered across his mind and his hand was about to touch the control panel, release Cura from her slumber when he stopped. His hand lowered in defeat.

"No," he whispered to himself. "I can't stop now. I must see this through."

He knew it was already too late. He could not undo what had been done. He couldn't cast aside his children. The only way forward was to finish what he had started despite everything that had happened thus far. He never imagined it would be like all those centuries ago when he had first concocted this plan. He never imagined that for his children to live the dream he had envisioned so many obstacles would need to be overcome. Perhaps it was just a dream, but it was a good dream and he would see it completed. Zarin would finish what he had started and the other ascended couldn't stop him. Janus, Ganos, Oma, they would all fall if they tried to take him on. The entire ascended collective probably couldn't take him on and win at this point.

His plan would succeed. For Cura and his children's sake it had to.

First though he would need to deal with another problem of his. He needed to stop Zarin from making a very foolish move. The _Doom Bringer_ was an impressive ship, overpowered to the extreme, and it would be a shame to see it destroyed. But if Zarin gave him any lip about this he might need to find him a replacement. He was not in a good mood.

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_**

Zarin was on the bridge, contemplating his next move now that he had received the signal from his strings that a Liberum ship had been infested. He was about to order his ship be deployed to take complete control of the enemy ship, and claim the advanced technology it possessed, when the crewmen around him froze in place.

"Hello Zarin," a overly familiar voice said as a blinding light appeared in front of him.

Zarin didn't even flinch and just stared at the blinding light as it formed into a man.

"Hello ancestor," Zarin replied dryly. "What brings you here?"

"I understand you're planning to deploy the Doom Bringer to take control of the Liberum fleet, don't."

"Why not?" Zarin asked angrily. "My infiltrators have disabled the ship, now I need simply pick up the pieces."

"It's too late," Vejovis answered. "You've missed your chance and now only death awaits you."

Zarin snorted. "The alliance can't touch this ship. They don't have the strength to challenge the _Doom Bringer_ and survive. They've run every time they've faced her. The _Doom Bringer_ cannot be defeated."

"Don't be arrogant Zarin," Vejovis chided. "Every ship has a weakness of some sort that can be exploited and no ship is indestructible."

"Don't be so sure."

"If you go there now you will be facing an armada whose sole intent is to destroy you. You will not survive, understand?"

"What makes you so sure?" Zarin asked sceptically.

"How do you think I know?" Vejovis asked sarcastically.

"Don't try and play all knowing being with me ancestor," Zarin snapped. "I acknowledge how powerful you are but I know better than that. Now tell me why you are denying me this chance to acquire the technology you have denied me in the past."

"They have a weapon more powerful than the Doom Bringer itself. All it would probably take is one shot to destroy this ship and everyone on it, and if you're lucky two. Unfortunately for you they have more than one of these weapons."

"Impossible, nothing could overcome this ship that easily."

"Don't underestimate the enemy you face," Vejovis warned him. "I have seen this weapon in action and one shot was enough to nearly shatter a decent sized moon."

"I'll take my chances," Zarin replied, indifferent.

For a moment Vejovis was tempted to turn his power on the irritating maggot in front of him and start looking for his replacement. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Zarin after he had denied him something he knew the arrogant human greatly desired. Instead he simply said, "Very well then, have it your way."

Zarin narrowed his eyes at the all powerful being in front of him. "You'll let me go."

"I'd rather not waste the opportunity that my old friends interference has provided on saving your life but if it will teach you a lesson then so be it."

"So you'll be sticking around then?"

"I'll be here. Your crew won't be aware of my presence, but you will."

"Thank you," Zarin said irritably.

"Try not to get yourself killed."

An irritating insect but at least after today he will have learned his lesson, Vejovis thought to himself.

* * *

**Liberum Fleet**

Tomin never thought he would be tearing his way through his own ship, leaving behind a trail of broken machines. There didn't seem to be an end to them. How many had been in that asteroid when it detonated? He really couldn't say and at this point he didn't care. All he did care about was keeping his people alive until help arrived. He had no doubt that help would eventually arrive. His allies, his friends, had earned that trust years ago.

Now though he and his men, these loyal men that had charged alongside him into the lions jaws, had arrived at the main power core. Andose and Caius were already there, each respectively wrapped in lightning and billowing flames. True to their word they were doing their best but required aid if they were going to continue to hold off the tide of enemy soldiers. With the bridge no longer a priority though he was now free to aid them in their fight against the metallic infestation that was intent of claiming his ship.

When he arrived at the power core and was confronted by Caius and Andose the pair of them didn't say a word. They could see on his face all they needed to know. He was angry. He had seen too many people die in the most horrible ways so far and he was not about to see it happen again while he still drew breath. With a fury he turned and tore into the bugs with lightning, fire and telekinesis. He had lost count of how many bugs he had ripped apart, fried and melted by now but he knew that it wasn't enough. His men were beginning to tire and even he and the other priors were growing weary after using their powers so often lately. If help didn't arrive soon then they would fall, the containment field would collapse and the entire ship would be filled with radiation from the miniature sun. This ship would fall into enemy hands and there would be nothing he could do about it. Well that wasn't exactly true, there was one thing that he could do. The question was, should he? No, he wasn't that desperate just yet. He would keep the faith. Faith in his allies, his friends.

With renewed vigour he tore into the hordes of bugs in front of him. Just how many of these things were there?

"Tomin," Darius said. "Reinforcements have arrived."

About time, he thought. "Who and what?"

"The alliance attack fleet and two ships I don't recognise."

"Tell them we need help," Tomin ordered, knowing that that should be obvious by now.

"I already have. They recommend abandoning the ship," Darius replied.

"I would rather save it," Tomin stated.

"They also said to mention that Zarin is probably on his way," Darius added.

"All the more reason to not abandon this ship, Zarin should not have our technology," Tomin replied, as if this were obvious.

"They're counting on Zarin trying to claim our technology. The ship is bait." Tomin could almost sense the old prior was grinning.

"Beam us out then," Tomin said as he dodged a leaping bug. "Now!"

In a flash of light the entire crew of the _Liberatus_ disappeared and the bugs found themselves alone on the ship.

* * *

**_Weir_**** Bridge**

"Hello Tomin," Sheppard said as the Liberum leader appeared in front of him.

Tomin's shoulders slumped as his body acknowledged the fact that he was no longer in mortal danger and the adrenaline stopped entering his system. With the adrenaline wearing off he found that he was exhausted from the constant use of his powers and looking around saw Caius and Andose in a similar state.

Caius offered him a weak smile. "Well that was fun. Let's do it again sometime, a long, long time from now."

"A very long time from now," Andose added.

"Agreed," Tomin said, turning back to Sheppard. "I understand you have a plan?"

"We know that your ship has been completely taken by something…" Sheppard began before one of the melted bugs landed by his feet.

"One of those," Caius said. "There are hundreds of them on our ship."

"Where did you get that?" McKay asked as he bent down to poke the charred and twisted bug.

"It jumped at me and I caught it," Caius replied casually.

"You just caught it?"

"My hand was technically on fire at the time so that would account for the damaged state," Caius explained.

"Okay…" Sheppard said, not being able to think of anything else to say. "Anyway, that ship has everything Zarin would ever want, advanced shields, weapons, engines and even better power generation. He wants it and he is going to come and get it."

"What makes you so sure?" Tomin asked. "He could send proxies and not come himself."

"Because he wants us to know that he has the power to take anything he sets his sights upon," Sheppard explained. "He'll come and he'll bring the _Doom Bringer_ with him, and when he does they'll be waiting for him." He pointed to the two ships visible through the window, the _Thor_ and the _Tria_.

"Impressive vessels," Andose noted. "However unless they possess something special I don't think they'll be a match for the _Doom Bringer_."

Sheppard grinned. "Ever heard of the Hellstorm cannon?"

The three priors shook their heads.

"The _Thor_ is equipped with two of them," McKay explained. "The _Tria_ has four. Just one would probably be enough to take down the _Doom Bringer_."

The look of surprise on the three prior's faces was a picture.

"Are you sure?" Tomin eventually managed.

"Pretty sure yes," McKay replied smugly.

"And you haven't used this super weapon of yours before because…?" Caius asked.

"We only just finished the ships we mounted it on," Sheppard answered.

"Ah, I see. So now what?"

"Now we wait for Zarin," Sheppard said. "In the mean time we'll have the rest of your fleet pull out. Our ships are cloaked so Zarin won't see them until it's too late."

* * *

**_Doom Bringer_**

"You're going to regret this," Vejovis told Zarin for the umpteenth time.

"If you say so ancestor," Zarin replied, incredibly aware of the fact that no one else could see or hear the ascended being that was standing right beside him. The bridge crew were starting to give him weird looks.

"I do say so and I'm right," Vejovis replied. "Maybe you'll realise that after you get your ass handed to you."

"Would you please just shut up!" Zarin yelled, his anger temporarily overruling his survival instincts. He paled as he realised he had just yelled at a being that could scatter his atoms with a thought.

Instead of being angry though Vejovis just smiled in amusement. He had made the right decision coming here. He was already starting to feel better and happily anticipating his personal victory over Zarin. Just seeing Zarin annoyed and powerless to do anything about it was amusing.

"As you wish Etere," Vejovis mocked. "You just let me know when you want me to pull your ass out of the fire."

"I'll do that," Zarin replied through gritted teeth.

The _Doom Bringer_ emerged from hyperspace and Zarin smiled as he saw the lone Liberum warship in front of him. It was untouched, undamaged and waiting for him to claim its advanced technology. His grin of elation turned into a frown as two vessels de-cloaked in front of him, one twice the size of the other. Power readings on the smaller of the two vessels were higher than any he had ever encountered on a single ship before and it was only a kilometre and a half long.

A hatch opened on the wing of the smaller of the two and a glowing projectile soared towards the _Doom Bringer_. He snorted and almost felt inclined to laugh. The _Doom Bringer_'s shields were at full power, so such small thing couldn't possibly hurt him. But his look of amusement quickly turned into one of horror as the projectile passed through the shields like they weren't even there and struck the side of his ship. As his vision went white he heard Vejovis say, "I told you this would happen."

As the Mark IX nuclear warhead detonated the _Doom Bringer_ was blocked out by the blast, hidden from sight by the destructive power of the explosion.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	79. The Tide Turns

As the light from the star formed from nuclear fire died and sensors cleared up the remains of the _Doom Bringer_ were revealed. The once mighty warship was blackened, twisted and broken, and yet amazingly had remained intact. Her armour was scratched from the nose onwards, the place where the hellstorm round had struck, but despite all belief and intention the ship was largely operational. Her hull had been effectively scoured but she was still very much alive.

Zarin growled as his cybernetic interface fed him damage reports from over the ship. They had been crippled! One shot from that strange weapon and they had been crippled! Somehow it had gone through the _Doom Bringer_'s shields like they weren't even there and detonated against the hull. Worst still that thing had been travelling so fast it almost burrowed through the hull before it had detonated. As a result the primary beam weapon had been wrecked. Unlike the rest of the beam weapons and shield emitters which had simply been burned out. The only weapons still functioning were the plasma cannons, being the only ones kept beneath the hull during hyperspace transit. The significantly more powerful, and much longer range, beam weapons on the other hand were now useless.

"Well that was surprising," Vejovis commented. "I really thought you were gone for a moment then. Lucky for you though your armour was just as tough as your shields or I would be looking for a new Etere."

"Shut up," Zarin said as he rubbed his eyes to clear his vision, while the bridge crew did the same. "Helm, take us for towards them. Deploy plasma cannons and point defence guns. Ready all fighters for immediate deployment."

The _Doom Bringer_ had eighteen thousand plasma cannons and seventy seven thousand point defence guns, more than enough to handle these two ships in short order. They would pay for what they had done to his precious flagship.

* * *

"Rodney, what the hell happened?" Sheppard asked.

"The hellstorm round couldn't get through the armour," Rodney replied. "It detonated before it was inside the hull of the ship."

"Damn that thing must have some thick armour," Sheppard growled. "What its status?"

"Weapons and shields appear to be disabled," Rodney replied. "She's completely defenceless."

"Correction plasma cannons are being deployed from beneath the hull," Thor added. "Sublight engines are coming online."

"Smart bastard," Johnny commented. "He kept something beneath the hull for situations like this."

"The cannons are short range however so if we keep our distance we should be able to deal with the ship easily enough," Thor reported.

"You mean we hit it with our biggest gun and that thing is still kicking?" Sheppard asked in disbelief.

"We took out well over two thousand beam weapons of varying calibres, including the main weapon," Rodney argued. "Her shields are gone."

"Okay, so what are our options? Hellstorm?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney shook his head. "That armour is too thick and appears to be energy dispersive considering the first round barely scratched it. Beams weapons are our only option if we want to stay out of range."

"Beam weapons it is then," Sheppard said as his activated fleet wide comm. "ISIS, activate the targeting network. All ships are to de-cloak, and remain at maximum weapons range. Set Grodin's to sustained beam mode and fire at will on critical sections. Destroyers are to perform attack runs only. Take that ship apart!"

There was no reply over the comm. link, but the sight of the entire allied offensive fleet appearing out of thin air as white beams lanced through space towards the Doom _Bringer_. Destroyers moved forwards in packs, descending upon a wounded prey like predators sensing an easy kill. At her best the _Doom Bringer_ was a fearsome ship, capable for dispatching even an armada like this one easily enough, but wounded as she was she was easy prey for any nimble ship with a long range beam weapon. Set to sustained beam mode the Grodin was a truly fearsome weapon, capable of punching through even the thick armour of the _Doom Bringer_ given enough time. The destroyers weren't having a small impact either, barrages of plasma beams repeatedly striking the same patch of hull armour were starting to take their toll, especially on the already damaged sections. The pride of the Zarasian fleet was for all intents and purposes being put through the bruiser ring as ships swarmed around her. In a desperate bid to stave off the inevitable space was filled with bright green plasma rounds as the _Doom Bringer_ opened fire on the attacking ships, but to no avail. Each shot fired lost the battle against the cold vacuum of space long before it could strike an enemy ship. As the ship was rocked by the constant hammering of plasma beams it seemed the ships remaining life expectancy could be measured in minutes.

* * *

"You realise you're getting mugged right?" Vejovis asked almost conversationally. He knew Zarin wasn't stupid enough or probably even willing to commit suicide in this battle but it was damn funny to watch it happen given how overconfident he had been not too long ago. The ship was rocked by an explosion as a section of armour gave way and something explosive was hit. "Was that important?"

What Zarin had failed to realise was that the enemy had sensors of such precision that they the _Doom Bringer_ was practically blind in comparison. Combined with over two dozen networked AI's processing through the data and you had a targeting system that was nothing short of terrifying in its ability to determine weak points and the location of critical systems. Grodins relentlessly drilled into hull sections, channelling such power that the armour simply couldn't disperse the energy before it was burnt away. Destroyers swooped in, blasting away with plasma beams at any weakened or exposed areas they could find, before moving away at high speed. Piece by piece the Doom Bringer was coming apart at the seams. The ship was literally being taken apart, dying the death of a thousand cuts. Each plasma beam, be it large or small, that struck was yet another cut to the skin exposing the soft insides, another vein or more vital severed or even a precious organ ripped out. This wasn't a battlefield, it was an operating table, and there were one hundred and forty three surgeons working on the _Doom Bringer_ in a co-ordinated effort.

Zarin gritted his teeth and focused on the battle that he saw as rapidly going downhill, when in reality though it had been going down hill since it started. "Launch fighters."

"Bad idea," Vejovis said. "Your ship's going to be destroyed before you can recall them so you'll have to flee, and then you will down nearly two hundred thousand reapers and your only real defence at the moment. Besides they have fighters too, along with other ways of dealing with them."

"Then what do you suggest?" Zarin snapped.

"Retreat," Vejovis replied seriously. "While you still can."

Zarin slammed his fist into the arm of his chair as his anger momentarily took over. Much as he hated to admit it the ancestor was right. If he wanted to survive he needed to retreat, and quickly.

"Cancel fighter deployment," he ordered, albeit reluctantly. "Set a course for home and take us into hyperspace."

Unfortunately two out of the sixty thousand fighters the _Doom Bringer_ held had already been launched and suddenly found themselves stranded as their mother ship forced its way into a hyperspace window. In response the allied fleet saturated space with energy bolts and NPD's, as well as launching their own fighters, to overwhelm the enemy. In some cases the larger ships of the fleet, like the _Tria_, simply opted to ram any fighters that got in their way. In a matter of minutes the last of the Zarasian presence had been dealt with and the system was undisputedly in control of the allies. The only thing left to do was reclaim the _Liberatus_ from the robotic bugs that had infested it.

In a flash of light teams of Tau'ri soldiers appeared across the ship. The majority were concentrated around the engine room to prevent the bugs from making a last ditch attempt to destroy the ship. Setting their side arm particle magnums to their lowest effective setting as a precaution the men and women of the first Tau'ri brigade went to work scouring the ship clean. The carnage wrought by the Priors and Liberum soldiers had been so great that this small skirmish was over in just a scant few minutes.

* * *

**_Weir_ – Bridge**

"I'm sorry Colonel but it is simply not possible," Tomin stated.

Sheppard sighed in frustration. "Look we need the damn thing. If we don't have it then our only alternative is to rely on the other ascended, and since I personally saw Vejovis bitch slap two of them with a gesture I would really rather not do that."

"Just hand it over and we'll give it back when your done," McKay added. "I promise we won't desecrate your precious instrument of freedom alright."

Tomin remained impassive. "I have complete faith in your ability to not damage the device but it is not  
possible. Doctor McKay let me ask you something, if the device was sent through the supergate with Adria why didn't she simply come back to your galaxy, use it and then ascend to become the only Ori in existence?"

Rodney opened his mouth to reply and then closed it again in puzzlement. "Okay fine I don't know," he admitted.

"Colonel?" Tomin asked.

"Don't look at me Tomin I don't have a clue either," Sheppard replied.

"Hey," Rodney protested. "Just give me a minute and I'll figure it out."

"We don't have a minute," Sheppard shot back. "Just tell us Tomin."

"Because she couldn't," Johnny said as he and Thor strode onto the bridge, having been standing in the doorway listening to the conversation.

"No she couldn't," Tomin agreed. "The Priors believe that in order to affect an entire galaxy the device was required to activate at the point where the energy stored inside was in the verge of overloading the device. This had the side effect of frying the device upon activation, damaging it to the point that it was completely inoperable and beyond repair. It was so badly damaged that Adria couldn't even reproduce the burnt out components."

"That must have pissed her off," Johnny surmised.

"More than that, I think it scared her. She was without support and the enemy she had been created to fight had practically won and she had no way to destroy them without ascending herself."

"Adria scared, now that must have been something to see. The old man told me she was a real battle axe."

"She was fearsome," Tomin agreed.

"So we're out of options," Sheppard said flatly. "We're relying on the ascended to take care of Vejovis for us while we take care of Zarin."

"Well the last part shouldn't be too hard," Johnny noted. "Zarin must be scared shitless by what just happened to him."

"That is a good point," McKay admitted. "And it gives me an idea."

"What?" Sheppard asked.

"Well this battle must be pretty embarrassing for Zarin right? I mean it's one thing to have your ship destroyed and quite another for it go down like this. One shot from Hellstorm was all it took to cripple it. So Zarin wouldn't want his people to know."

"I sure wouldn't," Johnny admitted. "That would put moral on the floor."

"So why don't we do that?" McKay suggested. "We have recordings of the battle from our sensors, why don't we flood subspace with those recordings?"

Everyone was silent as they processed the implications of this. Logistics, intelligence and straight up firepower were all types of warfare that they had tried to exploit against the Zarasians but psychological warfare wasn't one of them. That had been solely Zarin's territory and had been achieved solely using the _Doom Bringer_. Now though they had a chance to fight back. Just showing the footage to their own people would change the way people thought about this war, but now they had a chance to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy. After everything that had happened it actually felt pretty good.

"Okay let's do it," Sheppard said. "If we're lucky we only need one person to see it, believe it and then people will start talking about it. Eventually the rumours will start to spread and if we're really lucky Zarin could even have an uprising on his hands."

"You really think that could happen?" McKay asked.

"It might," Johnny said. "However with the reapers Zarin could theoretically just leave his people off the front lines or from any military installations."

"Reapers possess limited intelligence however," Thor pointed out. "If Zarin were forced to recall all his people from the front lines then the reapers would only be able to carry out rudimentary instructions and would have no real initiative."

"Good point," Johnny admitted. "Although we still don't know what all those instructions are."

"So what do we do now?" Tomin asked.

"You head back to Concordia," Sheppard replied. "You need to get your ship repaired and your people need time to rest. You look like you could do with a few hours of sleep yourself."

Tomin did feel tired and he knew he probably looked a lot worse.

"The rest of us are going to Calium," Sheppard finished.

"Not all of us," Thor added. "I have another appointment to keep."

"With who?" Sheppard asked.

Thor just simply smiled as a mass of glowing energy, which could only be an ascended being, appeared out of nowhere and snatched him away.

"I think the answer was friends in high places," Johnny said with a grin.

* * *

**Higher Plain**

This small part of the realm inhabited solely by non-corporeal beings was like a maelstrom. Countless ascended beings had gathered in this one place, the entire ascended collective, and at the eye of the storm stood the only one still in humanoid form, Oma.

"We need to take a stand against Vejovis," she shouted.

"No!"

"We cannot!"

"You know the rules!"

"You know where we stand!"

"What will be, will be. Interference is not our way."

The mass of voices was deafening.

"You know what he will do," Oma said.

"He will restore our race."

"The Alteran civilisation will live again."

This time though the roar of voices was noticeably quieter than before. The ascended were apparently divided on this subject. Worryingly though those against were silent.

"If this continues then our name will be turned into a word of fear," she retorted. "The name of the oppressor."

No reply came to this.

"Yes," Oma said triumphantly, having finally found her leverage. "You fear that don't you. The Ancients, one of the oldest and greatest races. A people that are revered throughout galaxies. The race that set the bar for what it means for a civilisation to be great. That legacy, shattered in one stroke. An entire race condemned because of the actions of one individual."

"At first they will fear, but in time they will love us. Our name will live on, our people will live on."

"At what cost?" Oma asked angrily. "You don't know for sure what will come of this but I can tell you that the price of this continued war is death. Countless dead, and for what? A dream that might never come true."

"Don't be so sure about that," a chillingly familiar voice said.

Oma spun around on the spot. "Vejovis, what are you doing here?"

Vejovis shrugged. "This is the higher plain and I am an ascended being. Where did you expect me to be?"

Oma scowled at him. The overconfident bastard wasn't even trying to hide his abnormal power anymore.

"Helping Zarin," she retorted. "Or perhaps working on the plans to bring down the Milky Way galaxy after your pawn has finished with Pegasus."

"Funny," he replied sarcastically. "Actually I was just checking in on Zarin as your own pawns took him down a peg. His flagship has certainly seen better days."

"They are not our pawns," Oma spat back, outraged at the implication.

"The smouldering remains of my outpost indicate otherwise," Vejovis pointed out Caretaker was quite distraught at what they did to it, and it was all thanks to you."

Oma scowled in response.

"And now you are trying to rally the other ascended against me," Vejovis continued. "Have you finished by the way? It doesn't seem to be working out for you so you may be better off giving up. Why don't you go look for Janus and Ganos? You should find them a few million light years from here, completely spent I meant add. Face it, you're out of options."

"She is," another familiar voice said. "But I am not."

"Well down Skaara," Oma whispered as the ascended dropped the Asgard Supreme Commander in the eye of the storm. In a louder voice she said, "Welcome Supreme Commander."

"It is good to finally meet you in person Oma Desala," Thor replied warmly. "And to the rest of my old allies, hello."

"Greetings Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard," the ascended masses intoned.

Vejovis however looked amused. "And what do you think you can do Asgardian?"

Thor turned and spoke in a tone that had humbled even the Goa'uld. "Destroy you."

Vejovis froze. A death threat spoken with absolute conviction can do that.

"Impossible," he spat. "There is no way."

"On the contrary there is a way," Thor replied. "Many weapons can be built Vejovis, as the Tau'ri demonstrated when they destroyed your facility. Even one that can destroy an ascended being."

"No one has such a weapon."

"Have you forgotten why the Ori are all dead?"

Vejovis face became a mixture of shock and horror, before his mouth twisted into a smirk. "That weapon was lost, rendered useless with its one use."

"Damaged certainly, but not lost," Thor corrected. "The Liberum have it in their possession, and soon it will be in the hands of the Asgard."

"Adria could not repair it though, or she would have used it."

"Adria was a being created by the Ori and knew only what they deemed it necessary to tell her. She was not a scientist, but the Asgard possess thousands who are. Do you really believe that we cannot do it?"

Vejovis narrowed his gaze at the Asgard, as if trying to see through him, and frowned. "You're bluffing."

"No I'm not."

"Your mind says otherwise."

Thor almost laughed. "You're bluffing. You and I both know that even a being as powerful as you can't read the mind of an android."

Oma chuckled quietly, causing Vejovis to glare at her.

"Don't be so cocky Oma," he chided. "Do you really think the others will allow such a weapon to exist?"

"You mean will they interfere?" Oma asked, completely unfazed. "What do you think?"

The glaring silence from the others as they circled around them was the answer needed.

Vejovis scowled. "Why do you have to all be so short sighted? Can't you see what I am trying to accomplish? This is for the best. Our people will be restored, galaxies united together, knowledge shared and countless saved as a result. Peace! And yet you only prolong the inevitable. The Zarasian military grows stronger every day. Eventually Pegasus will be claimed and, even if you complete that weapon, what will you do, use it out of spite?"

"We will not lose," Thor stated adamantly. "Zarin is already on the defensive, he just doesn't realise it yet. Next time his flagship won't be so lucky. We'll destroy it and we'll retake every world he has dared to set foot on and then…then we'll come for him. And when Zarin falls, so will you. Even with your help Zarin will perish."

"Do what you will," Vejovis scoffed. "I have no interest in continuing this pointless debate."

Turning into a mass pure energy that was so thick and concentrated it was almost blinding to look at he soared away to parts unknown.

"So you're taking a page out of Moros' book then," Oma said when she was sure Vejovis was gone.

"It is necessary," Thor said, mindful of the other ascended beings. "Of course I hoped it would not be. I had hoped that my people's old allies would see fit to stop this before it became necessary. It seems I was wrong."

"What would you have us do?" the ascended masses asked.

"What must be done."

"You know our rules Asgardian. You know why we have them."

"I also know that you can do harm by not helping when you can," Thor replied.

"Vejovis obeys the rules."

"Vejovis has planned this out."

"He will not interfere."

"He will let what will happen happen no matter."

"Even if my people build a weapon that can destroy him?" Thor asked. "What if he does interfere when his side is about to lose?"

Silence was the reply. Thor nodded. "Very well then, if you truly believe in the rules then I must trust you to enforce them."

He turned to his ascended companion. "I think it is time to leave."

Oma reached out and took his hand. The two were whisked away under Oma's power.

* * *

_**O'Neill**_

In a flash of light Oma deposited the Asgard Supreme Commander back in his throne chair.

"Thank you for your assistance in this matter," Thor said.

Oma's expression was far from cheerful however. "I only wish I could have done more." She sighed. "The others can be so stubborn."

"Yes, but they will step in if Vejovis interferes," Thor pointed out.

"What are the chances of that happening though?" Oma scoffed.

"You would be surprised. I doubt he will take the threat on his life lightly, and when Zarin starts to bleed he will feel more inclined to do so."

"Zarin doesn't bleed easily though."

"No, but he will. His flagship was just the start. Make no mistake he will suffer. The tide of this war is turning, if it hasn't already turned."

"Is there anything we, the others and myself, can do to help?"

"Yes, do nothing."

"What?" Oma asked, surprised at the strange request.

"I need you to not interfere in the slightest way. Do not ascend anyone, do not heal anyone. Do nothing in anyway to aid or hinder either side."

"What good will doing nothing do?"

"More good than you know. Have faith Oma Desala and go and find your friends. I suspect they need your help the most right about now."

Oma expression became a mixture of fear and worry. "You don't think he killed them do you?"

"I hope not."

Oma's response was to transform into her energy form and zoom out through the nearest bulkhead, accelerating so fast she was practically a blur. As the sensors on the O'Neill lost track of her Thor adjusted the ships heading and set a new course. He had a mission of his own to complete.

* * *

**M1M-316**

The dinosaur world, as it had become known, had seen very little activity after the SPECTRE's brief visit. The Zarasians hadn't seen fit to abandon it just yet, not with the _Doom Bringer_ on call to protect it. They hadn't had much of a chance in any case. This was a research base only and the required end product, the behemoth, had already been completed. It was still somewhat important and it was a base that the Zarasians could operate out of.

It was for this reason that the _O'Neill_ exited hyperspace in orbit over the planet. A brief scan of the planet, combined with the prior scans made, allowed for the location of the base to be determined despite the active sensor dampening. Without hesitating the Grodin was powered, set to sustained beam mode and fired on the planet. The shield was hit by the force of the beam and each passing second saw more and more energy pummelled into it. The Grodin in sustained fire mode was perfect for use against stationary targets. It wasn't long before the shield capacitors were completely drained and the base was left completely exposed. In the brief time it took for the sensors of the _O'Neill_ to register the shield failure and deactivate the Grodin a hundred foot deep crater had been burned into the ground.

Unfortunately though Thor had far from finished with the Zarasian base and had only shut down the Grodin because it was a waste of energy. Power was diverted from the Grodin to the four massive ion cannons that had been the original main weapon the ship before she was upgraded. Each bolt that was fired carried enough power to level a decent sized building, and there were dozens of them being fired at the planets surface. It took less than a minute of sustained fire to turn the base and the surrounding area into a blackened wasteland and every building into rubble.

* * *

**Calium**

This world that had not so long ago been free and ignorant of galactic politics had suddenly found itself thrust onto the galactic stage, another small spit of land on the map for races to fight over. Of course the allied races had no interest in conquering the planet, as the forty eight ships of the allied forces that exited hyperspace in the system were in fact intending to liberate the planet from the Zarasian aggressors.

The Zarasians and the reapers would be driven from this world, starting today. The tide of the war had finally started to turn.

* * *

**Please Review. I may be taking a break for a little while because of real life but we shall see.**


	80. Final Negotiations

**AWesome275: Unfortunately i may have to, but don't worry i do know where this story is going and how it ends and i do intend to finish it. As for Hellstorm, well it has a Mark IX Gate Buster as the warhead which is commonly calculated to a 812 gigaton yield, frankly i was being generous allowing Zarin to survive just one of them impacting his hull. If one had made it through the armour as Hellstorm rounds are designed to then the Doom Bringer would have been gutted.**

* * *

**Calium**

As soon as the allied fleet emerged from hyperspace they were confronted by the defending forces left behind by the Zarasians. While the _Doom Bringer_ had formed the bulk of the Calium invasion force Zarin had also seen fit to deploy several other vessels to provide an orbital vanguard should his attention ever be required elsewhere. The vessels chosen for particular duty were unlike any they had encountered before. At a kilometre long and armed with multiple beam weapons and plasma cannons, but lacking a fighter compliment, they were more powerful than other ships of a similar size. There were six of these battlecruisers in orbit of the planet at the moment and they wouldn't surrender orbital control without a fight. However the moment that the allied fleet emerged from hyperspace they had engaged their cloaking devices, allowing them to approach the planet unseen. Seizing the opportunity the fleet settled into orbit, taking defensive positions around the planet. Orbital control had been achieved and the Zarasians hadn't managed to fire a single shot in return, nor were they even aware of the enemy's presence. Before this world could be liberated information about what was happening on the surface was required.

Scans of the planet below revealed a large Zarasian presence, with reaper life signs numbering in the thousands. Worse still there were similar life sign readings to those recorded on M1M-316, which could only mean the presence of behemoths. Taking a Zarasian living tank was not something to done lightly, or with any amount of subtlety. It would take a heavily armed, and preferably armoured, force to deal with this threat. Luckily the Tau'ri had that option.

The _Sagittarius_ held five thousand men and women, an entire brigade, and they were all trained to be able to act as a brigade combat team, utilising heavily upgraded Stryker frames. In support of this impressive force was a hundred strong armoured battalion, consisting of upgraded Abram battle tanks, and five hundred and forty Titans. All these forces had previously fought on this planet against the reapers and were so far undefeated. This time however the reapers were deeply entrenched and were acting as the defending force instead of being the aggressors, defeating them would be the true test of the allied forces capabilities. The time needed for the allied forces to ready themselves for planet fall gave the fleet the opportunity to perform detailed scans of the planet in an attempt to determine the best points of insertion for their forces.

The overall picture painted was troubling to say the least. The Zarasians had managed to gain a foothold in every major city on the planet, and since the population was so small and the landmass floating islands every city was a major one as far as the Calium people were concerned. Worse still they had taken over the main military base of the planet and were using it as an airfield for their fighters. Judging by the number darting in and out of it at regular intervals attacking the base would be like poking a hornet's nest. One small provocation and a swarm of fighters would emerge to attack them. In theory UAV's could handle these but taking the base would still prove tricky. The Zarasians had apparently taken a page from their book and decided to further fortify the structure with a defence shield. They had then gone one step further and placed numerous small calibre energy weapon emplacements on the perimeter balconies. One thing they hadn't been able to accomplish though was complete subjugation of the Calium aerial fleet, when the Zarasians had started landing a number of ship captains had broken off and vanished into the clouds. These elements had eventually gathered together in areas that the Zarasian sensors were blind due to the interference from the local electromagnetic field. They had eventually formed the military might of what would be called the Calium resistance forces. If the allied forces wanted to retake Calium with the minimal amount of collateral damage they would need to make contact. It was for this purpose that a lone shuttle craft, modified to include a powerful sensor and communications suite, slowly descended into the atmosphere under cloak.

Upon encountering a Calium airship they sent a short but concise message. "We are Alliance of Great Races. We are here to help. Take us to your leader."

* * *

**Argus Shipyards**

In the city ship dock in orbit of the planet sat the largest vessel to ever rest there to date. Finally, after so long of only servicing smaller vessels, this dock was acting as a berth for an actual city ship. Undergoing an overdue refit and servicing Atlantis rested calmly under the protective canopy of the atmosphere retentive shield. Patchwork repairs that had been performed years ago were finally being replaced with actual restorations, courtesy of industrial beams and all the power generators were being upgraded to their most advanced versions. After only a day of being in dock Atlantis would emerge as a far more powerful version of its former self.

Despite not holding a city ship until now the dock had however seen use some heavy use in the past month. After the _Tria_ had had its hyperdrive replaced and been sent to Concordia for refit the dock had taken on the role of construction. A dozen large vessels had been constructed beneath its folding arms and were now to act as the vanguard force for Atlantis as she carried out her real purpose for being in the Milky Way galaxy. A dozen battleships identical to the _Thor_ had been completed and were standing by to make the jump to hyperspace. Unlike the _Thor_ however these ships were manned by skeleton crews and were largely dependant on AI's for operation. However the Aschen weren't to know that. When Atlantis turned up for the peace talks the sight of the city ship alone would give the Aschen pause for thought. A dozen carbon copies of the vessel that had displayed the ability to neutralise an invasion fleet on its own, along with the _Enterprise_ for good measure, would hopefully dissuade any potential unpleasantness.

With repairs finally complete, and the _Enterprise_ safely parked on one of the piers, the great city ship was cleared to depart for the first of its scheduled pickups before heading to Aschen Prime. An entire tower had been dedicated to both housing the delegates and providing a location for the talks. First stop, Dakara.

* * *

**Dakara**

"Amazing," Ka'lel said in a voice so low it was practically a whisper.

The former Hak'tyl resistance member was enraptured by the sight of Atlantis hovering over the capital city on Dakara. It was truly a magnificent sight and far grander than anything the Jaffa had ever dreamed to build. The Tau'ri had shared the history the great city, the role it had played during the gate builder's war with the Wraith and how they had restored the city to full working order. Beside her Rak'nor and Yat'Yir were similarly enraptured by the magnificence of the city, as was every Jaffa on the planet by now.

"They're showing off," Yat'Yir stated plainly. "They want us to see this city and marvel at what they have, despite the fact that they did not even build it themselves."

"Of course," Rak'nor agreed. "But they have not tried to hide this fact. They just want us to know that they have been entrusted to keep it safe."

"They also want us to know the power they now wield," Ka'lel added.

"Gerak was right about one thing," Yat'Yir said gravely. "The Tau'ri are dangerous, now more than ever."

"Good," Rak'nor said.

"Good?!"

"The Tau'ri are an honourable race," Rak'nor explained. "They show no mercy to their enemies, generosity to their allies and kindness to their protectorates. So long as we stay their allies we are better for it. To shun them would be to shun the Asgard and I have no intention of angering a race the Goa'uld were terrified of, especially when they are teaching us so much."

"Don't forget we are now apart of the Alliance of Great Races," Ka'lel added. "They are calling on us for aid and as honourable warriors we are helping them."

"Besides we're strong enough," Rak'nor added. "The Tau'ri are limited. Their own people are not ready to learn the truth of the universe while our own are growing stronger with each passing day. We advance as a race and countless worlds pay homage to us for providing them with protection. We have become a strong race."

"And we'll continue to get stronger," Ka'lel said with conviction.

"Indeed."

* * *

**Tok'ra Homeworld**

"Where did they get that from?" Delmak asked in bewilderment, staring at the grand site of Atlantis suspended in the skies above their city.

"A part of their legacy I am told," Egeria replied. "Built by the gate builders themselves and now restored by the Tau'ri."

"Impressive," Garshaw offered. "If only we had a city like that, it would have made maintaining a base during the fight against the Goa'uld so much easier."

"Very," Per'sus added.

Each Tok'ra could remember the number of times they had been forced to relocate themselves because of yet another Goa'uld attack. The worse thing had been that attacking them was something the Goa'uld would actually co-operate and allow access to each others space if they thought just one more Tok'ra would die. Rather ironic given the Tok'ra had devoted millennia to trying to keep them at each others throats.

"Do you think we could build one?" Egeria asked.

The three Tok'ra looked at their mother and took in her hopeful expression. Was it possible? No, not yet.

"Unfortunately my queen it is beyond our current manufacturing capabilities and population numbers," Per'sus explained.

While no longer the supreme voice in all things Tok'ra he did still have a significant position. One which was high enough for him to know that they definitely could not build a flying city with their current industry, building even small ships was proving difficult enough as it was.

"A pity," Egeria said. "I suppose I will just have to provide you with some more siblings quickly and boost our numbers."

The other Tok'ra smiled warmly at that. Now that they had their queen once again and cloning technology they would never again worry for hosts or numbers. It was truly a new age for the Tok'ra. With the blank slates of clone hosts even newly born Tok'ra could take a host. Their queen had only been with them a little while but the Tok'ra population was already beginning to explode.

* * *

**New Tollana**

"How long must we continue to wait?" Travell complained. "This would be much easier if we could simply use the stargate."

Narim resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It seemed that he would never be rid of her. She clung on like a persistent old tree, her roots having dug so deep over time that she couldn't be removed without anything short of high explosives. Then again she had survived the near extinction of the Tollan people so that probably wasn't even an appropriate simile. It was a terrible thought he knew but perhaps time would deal with her for him, not kill her but leave her too weary to constantly look over his shoulder. The only reason he was willing to take Travell with him was because he didn't want to leave her alone on the planet unchecked. She might actually get it into her head that she could dictate Tollan policy.

"We must travel by ship so that they can guarantee our safety," Narim replied calmly. "You cannot deny that that is a good thing and worth the wait. Besides even if we travelled by stargate we would have no way of returning home by the same means. Aschen Prime lacks a dialling device."

"The Tau'ri are becoming too arrogant if they think they can guarantee our safety," Travell replied acidly. "They use advanced technology but lack the wisdom to use it properly."

Narim sighed. This was an old argument, and one he suspected he would not be hearing the last of for some time. "On the contrary they have far more experience in warfare than most other races. I am told by Freyr that their warship designs are in fact more fearsome than even those of the Asgard."

"All the more reason they should not be in possession of such technology," Travell argued. "They are a violent people."

"A good thing too or many worlds would still be under the thumb of the Goa'uld, the old Wraith or the Ori," Narim pointed out.

"And how long before we see the Tau'ri replace them?"

"That is enough Travell," Narim snapped, his patience having run out. "I may tolerate you voicing your views, no matter how wrong they might be, but I will not have you voice them as a member of this delegation. Now you will keep a civil tongue in front of our allies, their guests and the other great races. I should remind you that we have yet to be offered an invitation to join the Alliance of Great Races and that may never happen if you cannot shut up."

Travell spun on the spot, shooting Narim a glare that should have left him as nothing more than a shadow outline against the wall. However before she could deliver her fiery comeback her gaze was captured by the sight through the open window. Effortlessly pushing aside the clouds as they descended into the atmosphere were a dozen identical and massive ships. Though they showed no obvious weapons on their hulls they seemed almost predatory in appearance. With their tips pointed outwards they formed a twelve pointed star, leaving a gap in the middle for the largest ship of all to descend. From above it looked like a massive snowflake and it wasn't until it got lower that the towers along its top became apparent. It was a city, a flying city!

"We're being invaded," Travell shrieked as panic gripped her.

Narim chuckled. "Actually our ride is here."

"What? Who is that Narim? Tell me!" she demanded.

"That would be the Tau'ri," Narim explained. "I have heard of the city ship Atlantis but I must admit it is certainly much grander than could be expressed in mere words."

"The Tau'ri could not have built that," Travell stated adamantly.

"You are correct. They simply restored it to its former condition. I suppose it could be called a part of the Ancients legacy. To keep it though they were forced to fight and survive against an enemy that even the Ancients superior technology could not defeat."

"So I was right they are not capable of building such a craft," Travell said triumphantly.

"One day they might, most likely they will. That is if they can't already. Perhaps we should all see it as a challenge, to see which race can design and build a city ship as grand as that first."

* * *

**Aschen Prime**

Standing guard over the Aschen homeworld was a massive fleet of ships. Most were technically not capable of fighting, having been disabled when the Ori carved a path of destruction before finally bombarding the planets surface. In another time one might have admired the beauty of this world. It was much like Earth, a blue and green marble, though with more green than blue. Now though the planet was scarred, marked by the struggles of recent years. A large chunk of the planets surface had been destroyed before the stargate connecting to a black hole had finally shut down. Much of the industrial areas had been lost as a result of that. Then of course there were the marks of devastation left by the Ori themselves. Those were wounds that had left their mark.

To bolster their defences the Aschen had constructed large numbers of automated small craft that could be remote controlled, hence the sizeable fleet in orbit. However without larger ships to carry them into battle they were confined to this system but they couldn't build those ships because it meant building ships that weren't combat capable, and right now they needed as many combat capable ships as they could get. Ironically this meant they had a truly formidable defensive fleet to guard their homeworld.

There were some who felt that the fleet being sent here by the Tau'ri should be destroyed the moment it arrived as revenge for what had happened to their world. The Aschen were rather lacking when it came to emotion but they knew what pain felt like, and they had felt pain when their world had been ravaged. Justice demanded that the race responsible should be punished. Perhaps it might have come to pass that just one Aschen might have given the order to open fire. However, when the thirteen ships emerged from hyperspace their thoughts of betrayal wavered. One of them was a battle carrier. A ship that their intelligence reports had said was powerful but not unbeatable. But the other twelve were all of the legendary battleship class, a ship that was truly formidable. Just one of these vessels was a force to be reckoned with, twelve would be almost impossible to beat. Then the most shocking thing of all happened, a single massive hyperspace window opened and deposited a flying city. So close together, and for once completely unhidden, the fourteen craft were together generating a power signature that blinded their sensors.

But even the sight of this fleet wasn't enough to make the Aschen truly surrender. That moment came when tens, even hundreds of hyperspace windows opened and countless ships started to emerge. Jaffa Ha'tak's, Liberum motherships, Asgard O'Neill's, Hebridian vessels of various types, and even a few Traveller generational ships, Wraith hives and Averian warships were present. The Alliance of Great Races had gathered together on this day to stand against their common foe, to make their message heard. The Aschen people heard it, loud and clear. Fighting against an enemy like this was not an option. They could only hope that the terms laid down were not too harsh.

* * *

**Atlantis**

The city sat in orbit of the planet in geostationary orbit over the crater left by the black hole. Whether this was by design or just coincidence no one knew and so far no one had dared to ask.

In the specially modified conference chambers in ambassador's tower the delegates had gathered to bear witness to the peace talks. An entire floor had been converted to create the chambers necessary these talks to create a room not unfamiliar to the Asgard high council chambers. Nine chairs on a raised platform formed the seats for the Alliance member's representatives, which was ringed by a seating gallery for other delegates and non Alliance members. At a significantly lower level was a small table with only a single chair, in which sat the stone faced Aschen representative. Of some note among the guests in the seating gallery were a number of Lucian civic leaders, who had been invited to bear witness to the proceedings. It was hoped they would take from this a warning of what would happen should they attempt to continue their old ways.

For this highly important event the Alliance representatives consisted of significant members of their respective governments. Opher of the Nox, Rak'nor of the Jaffa, Jack O'Neill of the Tau'ri, the Doci of the Liberum, and a trusted Wraith subordinate of Todd's that everyone called Peacemaker to name a few. All however, even Opher, were overshadowed in both position and seniority by the chair person for the peace talks, the Asgard Archon himself.

"Varris of the Aschen," the Archon began. "You stand here today as a representative of your people to listen to the terms of the Alliance of Great Races so that hostilities against your people will cease. Do you understand?"

"I do," Varris answered.

"Before we begin do you have anything you would like to say?"

"I do not," Varris said.

"With your permission Archon I do," O'Neill said.

"Very well," the Archon replied.

"Thank you. Aschen representative, as you may be aware I am a member of the Tau'ri. My people and yours have encountered one another before now. Now I want bring up all that was done on that day but I would like to ask you one question, what happened to our ambassador."

"Yes I am aware of who you are," Varris answered. "And I regret to inform you that your ambassador perished on that day after attempting to evade capture. He fell from the harvester to the ground and was killed as a result. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered."

"I hope that is true," O'Neill replied in a tone that implied dire repercussions should it turn out to be a lie.

"Detailed can be found in full in the copy of the treaty provided however the terms can be summarised as follows," the Archon continued. "Firstly, the Aschen will desist from any aggressive actions against worlds in this galaxy or any other. This includes the use of biological weapons designed to sterilise the native population so that they can eventually be converted into farmland. Understood?"

"I understand."

"Secondly, Aschen territory will be limited to within five hundred light years of Aschen Prime. It should be noted that all of these additional worlds are currently uninhabited. We have checked."

"Thank you," Varris said.

"You can thank us by not expanding beyond the established border."

"What about in the future as our population expands?"

"We would be willing to revisit this clause in the future, however that will require significant acts of good faith on your behalf."

"Such as?"

"True acts of kindness cannot be demanded, they must be given freely," Opher lectured.

"Thirdly, the Aschen will never again research or develop biogenic weapons," the Archon continued. "Discovery of violations of this or any other clause will be met with severe consequences."

"Such as?"

"We'll leave that to your imagination," O'Neill answered.

He knew full well that the Aschen imagination was somewhat limited. They were far more logically driven than most other humans. Hopefully this would mean they would fear that they would be destroyed. They might not be wrong.

"Fourthly, so long as you adhere to the treaty conditions your race will be a protectorate of the Alliance of Great Races."

Varris actually looked surprised.

"Why?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Why what?" the Archon asked with a hint of amusement.

"Why would you protect us after we have attacked you?" Varris asked. "It does not make sense."

"A truly great race does not just deal out punishments but also shows mercy," Opher lectured. "An entire race should not be condemned for the actions of a few."

"Eventually even the Aschen may be invited to join the Alliance of Great Races," the Archon added.

"Thank you," Varris said sincerely.

"You can thank us by adhering to the rules we have laid down for your species," the Archon stated. "Varris of the Aschen, as a representative of your people, do you agree to the terms we have offered you in exchange for the cessation of hostilities?"

"I do."

"Then let the record show that with the agreement of these terms the war of the Alliance of Great Races against the Aschen is over," the Archon proclaimed.

Much to the perplexity of Varris the assembled races actually started clapping at the news. He would have thought that after everything the Aschen people had done to remain in power that the other races would have been disappointed that his people were getting off so lightly. Instead they were apparently happy. These races were very strange indeed.

The guests here would take much from the peace talks. The Hebridians would finally see the back of their old enemy, the Tau'ri saw a little justice dealt out and the Lucians saw a potential future for their people. If the Aschen could be given a second chance perhaps their own race could be as well. Maybe one day they too would be invited to join the Alliance of Great Races.

* * *

**Please Review. The warning from last week still stands, this may be the last chapter for a few weeks.**


	81. Return to Calium

**Hello everyone, as you have probably guessed i am back! Thank you all for your patience. I know it has been a long wait and some of you, mostly anonymous guests, have made your annoyance at my lack of updates known. However it has been two months and you'll be happy to hear that like the cylons i have a plan. Yes that's right i know where this story is going and more importantly how it will end. Now that is not to say that any suggestions you have aren't welcome. I have an outline but it is not set in stone so if you have ideas i would like to hear them. Now without further ado, the latest chapter.**

* * *

**Calium**

The resistance forces had set up shop in an old military outpost that had been largely abandoned when the mines in the area had been rendered redundant by the discovery of the larger algae fields that now formed the main hydrogen production facility. However despite their small size there were still some algae fields present, something the Zarasians had overlooked when they conquered the planet. It helped that the magnetic field in the area was markedly stronger and provided natural defences. The Zarasians had some fearsome technology compared to the Calium's but they were still just as effectively short sighted. The Zarasians though were strangers to this world. Their pilots did not know the secret ways through the skies filled with rocks. Their pilots did have the experience of fighting pitched battles in a sky filled with debris, which impacting meant death. The Calium pilots did, their fliers may be small, fragile, primitive and lightly armed but they had pilot quality and in this case that beat technological quality. The cloud filled areas around the resistance base had become a dead zone, no Zarasian fighter craft that had entered it had yet survived. Whether the Zarasians knew of the resistance presence was unknown, but for now the Zarasians were staying well clear of the area. Presumably they had bigger concerns to deal with.

The resistance leader had taken some persuasion to meet with the allied forces. Not that they could really blame him since they had pulled out when things started to go downhill. It didn't exactly help though that the young Commander had known Commander Kavier and was having to deal with the fact that his old mentor was now a puppet of the enemy.

"Commander Quintose, please calm down," Thor requested politely.

Quintose responded by slamming both palms on the surface of the _Weir_'s holo table.

"Do not expect me to be calm when you tell me that one of the greatest men the Calium military has ever known is now working for the enemy," Quintose spat back. "An enemy which has invaded our homes and who my operatives are telling me are rounding up my people for some unknown purpose."

"Look he is not working for the enemy," Sheppard argued. "He is being controlled by them and that is a fact you have to acknowledge. They used him to sound a cease fire and allow their troops to land in your cities."

Quintose seethed so Thor took it as an opportunity to continue.

"The enemy are still allowing your ships to continue moving between the islands, transporting goods as necessary and even providing security. It is likely that their crews are under Zarasian control however that does present us with an opportunity. We can use your ships to infiltrate the cities and secure a beachhead for our forces."

"What do you need our ships for?" Quintose asked in a calmer tone. "You have technology that allows you to appear out of thin air or snatch someone away. One moment I was in my office, the next I was in space of all places."

"Unfortunately the Zarasians have a way of disrupting that technology," Thor explained. "However once we establish even a small beachhead we will be able to bring in additional forces."

"I don't like the idea of going in heavy on my own home soil," Quintose said.

"We may not have a choice in the matter," Johnny said. "Our scans tell us that your population count is dropping. They're moving people into their base where the stargate is and presumably shipping them off world. If we wait too long the majority of the civilians will be in the line of fire. If we want to do this we need to send in our people now. Now we can send in teams on the quiet to get into position to shore up the civilian areas but the capital and that base require us to hit hard and fast."

"Alright fine," Quintose relented. "But I want you to run everything by me before we make a move."

"Of course," Sheppard said.

* * *

From amongst the storm clouds and rain filled sky a small fleet of Calium airships emerged. The resistance ships moved through the sky with a single purpose. Showing no sign of aggressive action that might indicate they were on a mission of freedom they moved slowly and carefully. To the casual observer they weren't anything to rouse suspicion. A fork of lightning briefly lit up the sky, and the light briefly revealed a large armoured figure standing on deck. The Titan stood tall, unconcerned by the lighting, wind and strong winds that swirled around it, waiting for the moment that would eventually come. As the lightning flashed it was reflected on the armour of dozens of figures, dozens of Titans of all types, standing on the decks of the airships.

They were the silent guardians, annihilating any enemies that dared to approach. Stationed on these airships they would lash out at an enemy before the airships own weapons ever could. Their mission was a simple one, to guard the area around the resistance base and destroy any Zarasian fighters before they could get close. Arguably this would attract attention but by forming multiple roving groups they could cover a larger area while maintaining the illusion that they were independent groups not working to defend a centralised location.

Their role was purely defensive, not even attacking the enemy unless they came close. They couldn't afford to cause the Zarasians to adopt a defensive stance out of fear of attack. If that happened they would have to fight tooth and nail for every building on each of the islands, something they were not equipped for. Admittedly yes they could do it given sufficient time but with civilians in the middle of the battle it would be a meat grinder. Besides the allies didn't have the manpower to waste on urban combat. Open combat yes, but not urban combat. For now they needed to bide their time and wait for the opportune moment to strike.

* * *

Under cloak a lone Earth made jumper soared through the skies of Calium towards the capital city. Onboard were the two pilots and a pair of unremarkable individuals. Dressed in an earth coloured peasant garb they could pass for any of the local populace of a number of worlds, including Calium. At a glance they were nothing much to look at. Mid thirties, dark hair and with a light layer of stubble on their cheeks, they certainly seemed average looking. But if one looked more closely, specifically at the eyes, you might suspect these men were more than they seemed. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul. If that were true then this particular window offered a view of stormy weather.

As the clouds parted the Calium capital was revealed. The stark contrast between its current status and the way it had been before was shocking. Before the capital had been a vibrant hub of activity, the docks overflowing with airships travelling to and fro while military vessels patrolled the skies. Now it was practically lifeless. When the Zarasians took over every airship had either been grounded after the crew surrendered, or shot down when the crew refused to surrender. Only one had been shot down, the sight of the airship plunging to the ground after only a single shot from an attacker they couldn't see being enough to convince the others to co-operate. Now the only things flying were the scant few Zarasian supply ships carrying food and other precious resources. Although if you looked closely out the window you could actually see a fast moving shadow that marked the presence of another group of Zarasian fighters on patrol.

Touching down gently in an empty alleyway the puddle jumper deposited its passengers before taking off again and flying away, all the while cloaked. With the hoods of their thick cloaks shielding their faces against the wind the two men set off down the street, mindful of the patrols of reapers. As they trudged through the crowded streets they couldn't help but take in the atmosphere, feel the fear and the suppressed rage of the people around them. Following the flow of the crowd they arrived at the city centre, a crowd had gathered in front of the presidential building, which more of a city hall than a white house. Still though it was a grand building, quite impressive really but that wasn't what drew the eyes of the crowd.

On the steps leading up to the presidential building stood a man, a Zarasian. One glance was enough to tell you everything you needed to know about him. His marked face, his heavily muscled arms despite the fact that his stomach had stopped being flat long ago, that arrogant smirk and those mocking eyes. His left arm had been severed at the forearm and replaced with an artificial one, but instead of a hand he had a five fingered claw and what looked suspiciously like an energy weapon. Those claws were clamped firmly around the head of a native Calium on his knees before the Zarasian. At a guess the native was male but the poor individuals face was so badly beaten that it was hard to tell at this distance.

On both sides of this pair stood a hulk, energy cannon at the ready, while a ring of reapers stood before the steps, preventing the crowd from coming any closer. What really drew the eye though was the towering bulk of the behemoth standing behind the Zarasian officer and his victim. The sight of it alone was enough to hold back the crowd without the reaper presence.

"Not a good time to do anything Smith," the taller of the two muttered to his companion.

"As you say Smith," the other man muttered back.

"Let this be an example to you all!" the Zarasian officer roared. "This man attempted to assault proud Zarasians. He tried to subvert us, your rightful rulers. We who are the ancestors chosen. He failed. He was caught. And now, now he shall be punished for his crimes."

He raised his left arm and forced the man to his feet. He smirked and nodded to the brute. With a roar the beast swept back its arm and swiped at the hanging body. Its claws must have struck around the neck area because the head remained where it was. The body however was sent flying by the powerful blow, travelling a good thirty feet before landing with a splat. Cries of horror could be heard and even the odd sob could be heard from the crowd.

The crowd were shushed by the roar of the behemoth.

"Remember this well," the Zarasian roared. "Those who serve willingly will have long and happy lives. Those that do not will pay the price."

With those words he turned and walked up the steps, striding into the building as if he owned it. With that the crowd dispersed, heading off in all directions. The two Smiths went with the largest group, heading towards the industrial zone.

"I think we're being followed."

"I think you're right."

They broke away from the main road and took several turns through narrow alleyways, with a figure in a dark cloak following them. They subtly increased their pace causing their tail to break into a light jog to catch up. Just as the pursuer rounded the corner tall Smith slammed into him, forcing him against the alley wall. With his left side mostly pinned in place he was down to his right arm, only to have that held in place by small Smith using his own left. Glancing down he noticed that his knee was right between tall Smith's leg and in a perfect position to deliver a painful blow. Small Smith noticed this glance however and flexed his right hand, activating a mechanism that deployed a long and very sharp blade.

"Don't even think about it," small Smith warned as he raised the blade to press against his throat.

"What do you want?" the pursuer asked nervously, very aware of the blade against his wind pipe. Up close he appeared no more than a boy. Even though he was into his twenties his fear made him seem younger than he really was.

"We could ask you the same question," tall Smith replied. "And as it happens we are. Now talk."

Tall Smith nodded to his companion who moved the blade back about an inch to make it easier for their captive to talk.

"I saw you in the crowd," the man spluttered. "You weren't afraid. You…you're not from around here, are you? Are you here to help us?"

Though the two didn't show it they were slightly annoyed by this fact. This was the problem with sneaking into a small community in an isolated area, the strangers got noticed.

"Maybe, who are you?" small Smith asked.

The man hesitated. "My name's Korvus." He glanced down. "I'm nobody."

"Don't play coy with us son," small Smith said. "We noticed you too. You were trying not to be noticed, but we noticed you because you were trying too hard. You've clearly never tailed anyone before either."

Korvus glanced down again. "Do you mind?"

Small Smith looked to tall Smith, who nodded back. Small Smith flexed his wrist and the blade disappeared. The two men stepped back and Korvus found himself free, to an extent anyway. He had no doubt that if he tried to run or even shout that blade would be through his neck in an instant.

"Don't son," tall Smith warned. "It won't work out for you."

Sighing in defeat Korvus reached down and opened up his cloak, revealing a Calium military uniform.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a turn up for the books," tall Smith said with a small smile on his face. "You a deserter?"

"No!" Korvus almost shouted in outrage before his voice took on a tone of defeat. "I'm a survivor."

The Smiths glanced at each other.

"I know a place we can talk," Korvus said.

"Good because I want to hear this one," tall Smith said.

Korvus lead the two of them to an abandoned building that clearly seen better days. Planks of wood covered up windows that lacked so much as a sliver of glass, blocking the interior from view. Thankfully it was not too dilapidated to live in but just enough to keep people away. This Korvus fellow may not be able to tail someone but he had an excellent choice in hideouts. After the two men were seated on crates Korvus began his tale.

"I was on one of the warships when they came. Our commander told us not to fire on them. He had the entire crew in quarters, guns locked down. We weren't supposed to do a thing. The other officers weren't having any of it though. They wanted to know why were suddenly letting the same guys we had been shooting down not too long ago land on our home."

He shuddered as the memory came back to him.

"I was in command at the time, just minding my station. That's when it really went bad. The commander told us that we were to land the vessels and surrender to them. That if we went quietly we wouldn't be hurt. Then a ship went down after one hit. One damn hit was all it took to take down one of our most powerful battleships. One hit and it was split in half. Hundreds of people dead or dying from an enemy we couldn't target or even see. I knew people on that ship. I grew up with people on that ship."

The Smith's looked at him grimly. Watching your friends being slaughtered and not being able to lift a finger, that was something no one would want to relive.

"After that everyone pretty much gave up. Who could we fight? The enemy were on our soil so we would have to fire on our own homes to target them. They would take us out without presenting a target. It was hopeless. When we finally set down they started rounding us up. My ship happened to be docked on the island so when I saw my chance I took it. When they started placing these…things on peoples backs the trouble started. People started fighting back and in the commotion I was able to get away. I just ran, and kept running until I lost sight of everyone. First chance I got I stole this cloak to hide my uniform. I could have gone home but I didn't want to get my family involved so I've been hiding out here ever since, keeping my head down and my eyes open."

He looked at them expectantly.

"And now you're here."

The Smith's glanced at each other.

"Look son there is something you need to understand," tall Smith begins. "We're not here to fight. We will if it comes down to it but we're on a fact finding mission first and foremost. We're here to gather information so that we can't these guys off your world as quickly and as easily as possible."

"And how long will that take?" Korvus asked bitterly.

"As long as it takes," small Smith replied. "But we need to do this to keep the casualties down, and not just on our side. A city full of civilians is not a good place for a pitched battle if you want to keep those civilians alive."

Korvus frowned as he thought to himself for a moment. "What can I do to help?"

"Plenty," tall Smith said. "We need any information you can give us. Who's in charge? What happens and when? How many Zarasian officers there are on the planet? Who's in charge? What are the names of the people with power? Who are the civilians we could maybe turn to for help? Things like that."

"Speaking of who's who I don't know your names yet," Korvus noted.

"I'm Smith and this is Smith," tall Smith said. "No relation."

"Doesn't that get confusing?"

"Nope, I know he's him and I'm me," small Smith joked. "Besides we don't usually talk to other people on the job. If it helps then you can call me Smithy."

"Alright," Korvus said, shrugging off his momentary confusion. "If by officers you mean humans then I've only spotted between ten and twenty. Those things, reapers I think they're called, are usually out on patrol. The human, if you use the word loosely, in charge here is that bastard you saw today, putting on one of his little shows as he likes to call them." He grimaced in disgust. "His name is Malek and even his own are afraid of him. I'm pretty sure that if he were to die tomorrow no one, Zarasians included, would shed a tear. I can't tell you about the other islands though."

Smith and Smithy shared a brief look, which Korvus caught.

"What is it?" he asked.

"There's a reason that we were sent to this place in particular," Smith explained. "When we first arrived here we scanned the planet for life readings. Naturally we picked up a lot of aliens that didn't belong here but we also found something weird. This isn't the only settlement on the planet but it is the biggest, correct?"

Korvus nodded. "This was our original home, legend has it that this island was once on the land below but was detached after miners dug too deep. All the other islands are home to small mining towns with maybe a few thousand people at most. Why?"

"When we scanned those areas they were only inhabited by reapers and a few humans at most."

Korvus sat their stunned. "How is that possible?"

"If I had to guess the same thing happened to them as the rest of your military," Smithy said. "Most likely they had a string attached to their back and were sent off world."

"Where would they send them?"

Smithy shrugged. "We don't know but intend to find out. Have you noticed anything weird?"

"Now that you mention it yes," Korvus admitted. "The only craft I've seen in the sky are the supply ships that bring in food, water and other resources. Some ships though…they arrive here empty and then they leave but I couldn't say what they were carrying. Although…"

"Yes?"

"There have been stories about people disappearing from the island. They get this official summons to come to a special meeting and then are never seen again."

"How certain are you of this?"

Korvus shrugged. "Like I said it's just stories but…I swear the number of people around is dropping. At first it seemed like we outnumbered those reapers ten to one at least. Now though…well the number of them around never seems to change but it doesn't feel like we outnumber them by that much anymore."

Smith and Smithy sat in silence for a few moments as they processed this new information.

"Is this place safe?" Smith asked.

"As far as I know," Korvus said.

"Then we'll use this as our drop off point."

"What do you mean?" Korvus asked, as Smith and Smithy began pulling various cylindrical shaped pieces of technology out from under their cloaks.

Ignoring the question the two began to assemble a tall cylindrical device supported by four stubby telescopic legs. Finally when the various pieces were slotted together Smith pulled out the final piece, a fist sized red crystal orb that locked into placed on the top of the cylinder. Once that was done Smithy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue power crystal. He hesitantly placed it into a small slot on the side of the device before pressing the activation switch, causing the device to emit a gentle hum as it powered up. Despite the fact that it seemed to be doing nothing more than emitting a faint glow from the blood red orb and the various white lights dotting its surface Korvus still eyed the four foot high structure with a certain amount of fear.

"What is that?" Korvus asked nervously, his earlier fear of these two strange men having returned.

Again though the pair ignored him and Smith spoke to someone unseen. "_Weir_, relay is active. Three to transport."

"Who is…?" Korvus began to ask before the question died in his throat as his vision went white and he suddenly found himself in a completely different place. The crates, the wooden floor and even the wooden walls were gone. In their place was drab metal, in a style shockingly familiar to him and he quickly realized he was on a ship of some kind, but not any kind he recognized. This hadn't been built by his people, it was alien. Looking around the sizeable room he noticed a number of humans in strange dull coloured garments, uniforms of some kind judging by their general conformity. Worryingly a number of them were carrying what appeared to be large weapons similar in design to his peoples own designs, though these seemed much more fearsome. It didn't help his nerves when his military training told him that he had his back to the wall, was completely surrounded and massively outgunned. Also that his two companions had managed to move clear out of the line of fire without him even realising they had moved so much as an inch. He had heard the stories about these people from another world and the technology they possessed but the ability to make someone disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye was fearsome. What if they chose to make him reappear in space? Or worse, high in the sky where he would have a long way down to think about his inevitable fate? What was to stop them? His shoulders slumped as he realised the answer was nothing.

Resigned to the fact that he was completely at their mercy, ancestors help him, he asked the only question he could, "What are you going to do with me?"

"Well first," a middle aged man with spiky hair began. "We're going to give you a little lie detector test to confirm that your story is true. If it is then we'll say welcome to the resistance. Oh and I think we'll start by giving you a good meal because frankly kid you look like you could use more than a few."

"And if you're not satisfied?"

"If your stories true then you'll have nothing to worry about."

Sheppard turned to the two Smiths as Korvus was escorted away. "Good work agents we'll be sending you back now. As soon as we know the results we'll let you know and you'll be clear to continue. Until then hold your position."

"Thank you sir," Smithy said. "But if you want my opinion I think we'll be okay with this one. My experience tells me we can trust him and from what I can tell he certainly appears to be telling the truth."

"No offense agent, but in this universe, hell this galaxy, things are never that simple. Besides at this point we can't take the risk."

"Yes sir."

With that the two disappeared with a flash of bright white light.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	82. Spooks

**Not much action in this chapter either i'm afraid, but don't worry about it. The coming chapters are going to be packed with one battle after another, hence the need for these building chapters. The war is about to go from the frying pan and into the fire people. Until then here is a little something to tide you over.**

* * *

**_Weir_**

Sheppard stared through the one way window at the man in the interview room. Korvus was now looking in much better condition than he had been before, having showered and been given a beige jumpsuit to wear in place of his unwashed clothes. Frankly he looked bored, constantly staring around the room and looking for something to distract himself. The room however was a plain as they came and was spartanly equipped, with two chairs, a table and the bunk set into the wall being the only furniture.

"So he checks out then?" Sheppard asked the only other person in the observation room.

The figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a non-descript middle aged man with dark black hair. His name was Mr Smith and he was the one with direct command over Smith, Smithy and their colleagues.

"The scans on the modified Zatarc detector all came up clean. There were a few blips but all within the expected margin for error given the emotional level that the sensors operate on," Mr Smith explained. "However the memory recall device we attached showed images that correspond with the story he told us. He's battered, bruised and slightly shell shocked but we can trust him, and he's already provided us with some valuable intelligence."

"So Smithy was right then."

Mr Smith smiled. "I've found that his instincts usually are."

"Right…so are your boys and girls ready?"

Mr Smith raised an eyebrow and for a moment Sheppard found himself thinking of a certain Jaffa. "Colonel, we're always ready. Just say the word and we'll deploy."

"You know your objectives?"

"Find out the cargo of the ships leaving the capital, locate the missing Calium people and identify the on site Zarasian command hierarchy," Mr Smith replied. "Like I said Colonel, we're ready."

"Okay then, let's get this show on the road."

"Thank you Colonel, it will be my pleasure." He tapped his earpiece. "This is Mr Smith. We have a go. I say again, we have a go."

Throughout the vessel nearly a dozen men and women dressed in peasant garb stopped whatever they were doing and headed down to the cargo hold where their equipment was waiting for them. Most of them had been waiting together in the mess hall, laughing and sharing tales about old times while others had been alone in their quarters or walking through the ship. Now though their expressions turned into blank masks as deeply ingrained professionalism took hold.

Standing out amongst the dozen people in peasant garb gathered in the cargo bay was a tall man and thin man in a white lab coat with combed back silvery hair and half moon spectacles. He was known simply as the Doctor, often called Doc for short, and he was the designated medic for this outfit.

With a nod to a technician standing by at the console the group and the metallic boxes around them disappeared with a familiar chime and bright white light.

Mr Smith strode through the ship to one of the hanger bays, heading directly for a single specific transport shuttle. This particular model had been specially modified for use by him and his people. The cargo areas inside the shuttle had been modified to create a command and control centre as well as a communication suite and intelligence centre. It was the perfect mobile operating platform that he and his people required for missions such as these. The craft was already fully crewed and ready for departure, and with his command it engaged its overpowered cloaking device and soared off into the depths of space. Moving as slowly as possible in order to avoid detection the large craft gently descended into the atmosphere, its presence almost impossible to notice amongst the planets powerful magnetic field.

* * *

Smith and Smithy had not been idle while they were waiting for further orders. They had searched the house top to bottom. Like they had suspected the house had long been abandoned however it was solidly built and wasn't in danger of falling down anytime soon. The lack of furniture was made up for by the rather sizeable, and thankfully dry, basement. By the time the rest of their team beamed in they had relocated the transport beacon to the centre of the basement.

"Looks like the party is about to get started," Smith noted.

"Guess we have the go ahead then," Smithy added.

"Ah gentlemen," Doc said as he took in his surroundings. "Good to see you again."

"You too Doc," Smith said. "Mr Smith not with you?"

"Mr Smith is on _Eagle One_," Mr Smith said through his earpiece. "I'll be co-ordinating with hatchling from here."

"Copy that _Eagle One_. Orders?"

"Get yourselves set up and outfitted for stealth operations. The Doctor has the equipment you'll need. The only pieces of technology you're permitted to carry are tracking devices. You're to perform recon only."

"Understood, hatchling out."

While they had been talking the other agents had been busy setting up their equipment. The numerous metal boxes they had brought with them unfolded to take the shape of computer terminals and various other pieces of equipment. Several of them were nothing more than boxes, containing tools of the trade along with medical equipment for Doc to use.

Smith and Smithy both sat down on an unfolded medical table while Doc prepared an injection gun and a series of vials.

"So what is this new equipment you're giving us?" Smithy asked.

"Oh just a modified ear bud and spy camera," Doc said casually, right before he injected something directly behind Smithy's left ear.

"Son of a…a little warning next time," Smithy complained as his rubbed behind his ear where the needle had pierced his skin.

"Baby," Smith mocked before he winced as he himself was injected.

"Hurts doesn't it," Doc noted in that same casual manner.

"What was that?" Smithy asked. "I can feel something beneath my skin."

"A special microphone that works off the vibrations of your jaw," Doc explained. "Just whisper and we'll be able to hear you."

"So what's in the other two vials?" Smith asked.

"You'll see," Doc replied. He quickly proceeded to inject the two between the eyes.

"Well that was pretty painless," Smithy noted.

"I know," Smithy said. "Maybe it isn't working."

"It just takes a little time for the nanites to get to the optic nerve," Doc explained.

Both men suddenly looked alarmed. Nanites! No one had said anything about nanites. They had all heard the stories about nanites.

"Doc I'm going to ask you a question and I want an honest answer," Smith said slowly. "Is this safe?"

"Absolutely," Doc said, right before the two men doubled over in pain.

"That been said it will hurt a little," he added.

"A little!" Smithy furiously rubbed his eyes as the initial pain subsided. "It felt like the little buggers were trying to chew their way through. Why couldn't we use anaesthetic again?"

"No reason," Doc said offhandedly. "It would just take time to take effect. This way is quicker."

"There is always time for anaesthetic," Smithy retorted.

"I agree," Smith concurred, glaring daggers at Doc while blinking furiously.

"Simply the nanites establishing live connections to the signals being sent by the optic nerve," Doc explained as though talking about the weather. "Do we have a connection?"

"Yes sir," an agent manning a console replied.

"Picture quality?"

"At one hundred percent."

"Audio?"

"Also at one hundred percent."

Smith looked around at the other agents, who he could just tell, thanks to years of training and experience, were suppressing grins. "Are they all getting the same implants Doc?"

"Of course."

"You know I suddenly feel a whole lot better, how about you Smithy?"

"Very much so," Smithy replied. "Shall we?"

"Let's."

With that the two men stood up and readied their equipment. Although the two weren't allowed to carry any weaponry, including equipment, more advanced than a sword that didn't mean they didn't have options. Hidden amongst their person were a number of trinium throwing knives while beneath the gauntlets on their wrists was a retractable trinium blade.

"Ready partner," Smith asked.

"Let's go."

With that the two of them moved out of the house and into the streets, heading for the nearest dockyard.

As they walked through the streets they couldn't help but note that the number of humans had dramatically dropped despite the fact that the Zarasians had not actually ordered a curfew. Apparently the rumours about people going missing were spreading because as the sun began to drop below the horizon people began to hurry to their homes. They probably didn't want to push their luck by going out at night and not coming back again. This attitude suited Smith and Smithy just fine as it meant the number of reaper patrols was on the decline as the hour grew later. The fewer reapers around the easier it was to do what they needed to do without being noticed. They knew the other agents would be moving out soon, in small numbers and over a fair period of time so as not to draw attention to the supposedly abandoned building.

They quickly but calmly made their way through the streets, hoods drawn over their heads to slightly cover, but not conceal, their faces from view. This allowed them to move past the Zarasian patrols without attracting much attention. What people usually underestimate is how much intelligence can be gathered just by walking around the streets and paying attention to everything around you. Ten minutes of wandering around was enough to gauge the atmosphere and general state of mind of the locals, while just walking past a patrol lead to some very interesting discoveries. At the head of each group was a single cyber reaper. It appeared to be acting in an officer role, and was constantly looking around at its surroundings, presumably searching for threats. Clearly this one was more intelligent than the twenty regular reapers marching in formation behind it. Watching the back of each patrol was a single hulk, towering over its smaller cousins. The towering sight of the hulk alone was probably enough to deter any civilians from attempting anything stupid, or brave depending on your perspective, while the massive plasma cannon resting in its hands was just icing on the cake.

As they neared the docks the level of activity increased. Even during the dead of night the dockyards never slept with people unloading and loading transports, although there was a distinct shortage of ships being unloaded. There were more and more reapers about as well. The number of patrols in the local area had tripled and they easily outnumbered the meagre number of humans present. Worryingly there was even the odd behemoth prowling between the docked vessels. That was certainly enough to raise their suspicions about what was happening here. The only other behemoth they had seen was sitting in front of the presidential building like an obedient guard dog.

For hours they prowled around the docks in the shadows. The sun had long since set and strangely enough they had found nothing suspicious aside from the large amount of security present. Discretely checking the crates as they were unloaded revealed nothing more than basic necessities inside from the distant farming islands to supplement those produced on the island. The tracking data from the devices they had planted on the docked ships even confirmed it when they made the return journey. Even the number of people around had dropped significantly, since apparently three in the morning was too late to be up even for dock workers. They had considered going back to base when their search proved to be fruitless however they persevered and eventually their patience was rewarded.

Under the cover of darkness a craft that was definitely not of Calium design descended into the docks. The two agents recognised it from the data files on known Zarasian craft. It was a transport shuttle identical to the one discovered by the SPECTRE's. So the Zarasians were planning on moving something or someone under the cover of darkness when no one would notice. It wasn't a bad plan since the agents wouldn't have noticed the silent arrival of the craft if it wasn't for the sensor data provided by _Eagle One_. Apparently this wasn't the only craft arriving either but it had been the closest and so was the one they headed towards. Now the question was, were the craft here to pick up or deliver?

Moving silently through the shadows they were able to approach the craft unseen. Not an easy task with the number of reapers clustered around the idle craft. The doors were wide open and yet no one was making an attempt to head into the craft, although there was a single Zarasian officer standing just inside them, apparently waiting for something. The stance of the surrounding reapers suggested they were not expecting something to come from inside the craft and were looking towards whatever might be heading towards it. The fact they were all armed also suggested they were not here to help move anything. So either the goods being moved into the craft were being carried by someone else or they were making there own way onto the ship, which suggested people.

Their suspicions were confirmed when the doors of a nearby warehouse opened and the bright light spilled out onto the dockyards. The sudden light threw long shadows onto the ships and crates, shadows which were suspiciously human shaped. From their concealed position behind a number of covered crates they watched as the shadows began to move and a column of people marched in single file towards the waiting transport. Despite the gloom of the night they could tell something was off. Their movements were too uniform, almost unnatural. Those were the co-ordinated movements that drill sergeants spend weeks trying to in grain in troops but these men and women weren't troops, they were all dressed in civilian clothing. There were even some young children dotted along the line. Something was definitely off and it wasn't until the head of the column passed them by that they realised just what that something was. Clamped onto their backs like some futuristic back pack was a metallic bug like creature. It was a string. Each and every one of these people had a string attached to them, controlling their movements and leaving them prisoners in their own bodies. They were puppets under the complete control of the Zarasians. Suddenly it all made sense, all those missing people on the other islands and now here. Events like one must have occurred on those other islands as well. People being drawn to mysterious meetings where they would be detained and have one of those things attached to their backs. Now they being forcibly marched onto waiting transport craft and being shipped off to who knows where.

Their discovery had already been noticed by hatchling, courtesy of the nanites streaming information from their eyes. Now they had orders straight from Mr Smith, plant tracking devices on the ship without getting caught. Reporting back they explained that given the circumstances it would be impossible to plant a tracking device without being caught or it being discovered. The reply took a few precious seconds to come through. Ironically the solution was to take a page from the Zarasian play book. A small container containing a radioactive marker would be beamed down nearby to their location, where it wouldn't be spotted, and they would paint the transport with the contents. Due to being on the edge of the island the transport inhibitor field was weakest, meaning they could beam down but couldn't guarantee exactly where it would appear.

They were fortunate in that it only landed a metre off target, although the fact that it was also a metre off the ground did cause them to wince when it hit the ground with a clang. The chime and bright light from beaming down was enough to draw attention already without additional noise to add to it. Thankfully though the container was retrieved without incident and, more importantly, without anyone coming to investigate. While not being discovered was certainly a good thing but not putting the enemy on alert was what would be key to pulling this off. Their greatest advantage was that all attention was on the column of people marching into the belly of the transport, which meant that by approaching the transport from the other direction they would have a better chance of avoiding detection. The problem though was that the transport was only so big and could only hold so many people. In other words it was quickly becoming full.

Moving as quickly, and as quietly, as they could the two men approached the transport, ducking behind crates whenever they sensed a reaper so much as turn its head, because there were still some around. The Zarasians weren't stupid enough to presume their might not be some nosey civilian looking around, or that a string might malfunction and one of their captives might try and make a break for it. The last thing they wanted was an uprising from the general population. That would undoubtedly result in a dramatic loss of resources, or slaves depending on your perspective. Luckily years of training and many more years of experience allowed them to approach the ship without being detected. It was the work of a moment to open the container and mark the hull with the contents. Once they had confirmation that there were now two radioactive markers being detected by _Eagle One_ they made a speedy retreat before they were spotted. Along the dockyards other teams were performing similar missions, marking each of the transports that touched down with the same radioactive marker.

Their mission completed they returned to base to get some well earned rest while the results of their discoveries were determined.

* * *

**_Eagle One_**

Mr Smith stood in the middle of the command centre. Around him more than a dozen technicians were manning consoles which were relaying data from the agents, tracking devices and general sensor readings. All of which were being projected on large screens, thus allowing him to get an overall picture of the situation. His agents had certainly been busy during the night and he was proud of their efforts, especially given the alien environment they had been dropped into. Not that he would ever say anything more than a simple good job, they were expected to do their jobs well after all.

However they had nonetheless done a very good job all things considered, which meant that he now had a small goldmine of information at his disposal.

"Your people have certainly been busy," Sheppard, in holographic form, noted. Standing next to Mr Smith he couldn't help but admire the large amount of data that was being displayed on the screens. "Is it just me or do you have tracks on each of the Calium ships?"

"Yes we have," Mr Smith replied. "I also think we have some information you'll find very useful when it comes to planning your counterattack."

"Oh?"

"We've determined that the leadership elements for the Zarasians have set up their headquarters in the Calium presidential building," Mr Smith explained. "Now we've placed locator beacons around it so that you can determine the location easily, however the real interesting part is what we found when we ran an actual scan of the building. We've determined seventeen human life signs, which totals the number of Zarasian officers we believe to be on planet. The only other life signs are definitely reapers, and a single Wraith queen."

"That queen most likely being the controller for the reapers," Sheppard surmised.

"Exactly our thinking as well, which means we have a pretty good opportunity on our hands here to cut off the head."

"One thing I have learned Mr Smith is that no plan survives contact with the enemy, and things are never that simple. So what aren't you telling me?"

Mr Smith coughed and shifted awkwardly. "Well some of my people have noticed something interesting about the patrols."

Sheppard sighed. He knew something like this would come up. "Just tell me and get it over with already."

"Each one of them is led by a cyborg reaper, well more cyborg than the usual ones anyway, and they seem much sharper. Our guess is that they act as squad leaders and could in fact be networked together for co-ordinated efforts. Now they would have limited processing power but it means they won't be a pushover to deal with."

Sheppard looked thoughtful for a few minutes before his expression brightened. "Well on the whole I suppose it could be a lot worse. We take out the head and they won't be able to co-ordinate well enough to put up too heavy a resistance, which is the last thing we want in the middle of a city. We'll just have to hit them hard and fast."

"That's all down to you of course, being a purely military matter."

"And speaking of military matters care to explain to me what that is?" Sheppard said while pointing to a screen showing a tracking beacon and a star map.

"Ah that," Mr Smith said innocently. "Yes I was just coming to that."

"Something you want to tell me?"

"Are you sitting down?"

"Does it look like I'm sitting down?" Sheppard asked sarcastically.

"I just thought it might help," Mr Smith replied indignantly. "We managed to place a tracking device on some Zarasian transports that landed in the dockyards. Several of them landed that night and I thought it would be a good idea to see where they were going. We've been tracking them for sometime now."

"So what was it carrying?" Sheppard asked.

"You're not going to like this," Mr Smith warned him.

Sheppard grimaced and replied in a voice that was practically a growl. "Just tell me already."

Mr Smith sighed. "People, Calium citizens to be precise."

"How many?"

"We don't know. Several hundred at least, in this shipment anyway. But considering how long they have been here we could be looking at upward of ten thousand, at minimum."

"I want all sensor data you have on those transports," Sheppard ordered him.

"Done, it's being transferred to you now," Mr Smith replied. "However I would like to take eagle one on a recon mission to follow them."

"Why _Eagle One_?"

"Because it's the most advanced stealth and scouting vessel we have in the fleet. We can get in and out without the Zarasians knowing we were ever there."

"And what about your people here?" Sheppard asked. Somehow he didn't see Mr Smith picking up sticks and abandoning his people in an alien environment and apparently Mr Smith knew that.

"I know what you're thinking Colonel but there is something you have to realise about us," Mr Smith explained. "We aren't like you military people. Yes we work together. Yes we try not to leave anyone behind if we can help it but that doesn't mean we're always together. A lot of our people usually operate on their own in the field and without contact with anyone friendly for quite some time. They'll be fine with what they have and support a mere transport relay away."

"Alright then," Sheppard relented. "If you think they'll be okay then you have a go."

"Thank you Colonel." Sheppard nodded to him just as the hologram disappeared. With him gone Mr Smith raised his voice to address the entire room, "You heard him people. I want this ship ready for departure in five minutes."

* * *

**_Eagle One_**

The small ship soared through hyperspace at speeds many would have thought impossible for a craft that was only fifty metres long. But equipped with the most advanced hyperdrive and power generation that her size allowed she was capable of reaching such speeds with ease. Emerging from vast emptiness of hyperspace on the outskirts of an alien star system the ship coasted the rest of the distance on her sublight engines alone, reaching an impressive fraction of the speed of light with their power alone.

Her current mission saw her searching the system that her tracks had entered, and then remained at for several hours before departing again. What was interesting was that the transports had then gone in different directions once they had departed this system, clearly they needed to investigate. They certainly had the time since Zarasian hyperdrives were much slower than theirs was after all. If they continued at their current speed they were likely to outrun the transports entirely.

Mr Smith sat in the command chair on the bridge of what was known amongst his people as his personal flagship. It was certainly a strange feeling, having a ship to call your own after having gotten used to just having a office to call his own back on Earth. He had seen some shocking things in his time, most in the last few years, but he did think he would be terribly surprised by what he would find here. So it was a shock to the point where his eyes visibly widened when then the HUD began to register hundreds of large contacts and the first of the massive numbers of capital class contacts became visible to the naked eye.

He found himself silently thanking whoever had insisted in equipping the ship with a stealth system which, on top of the cloaking device, bordered on sheer paranoia, because he had just stumbled upon a Zarasian armada bigger and more powerful than any had ever seen before.

"Oh crap," he whispered.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	83. Liberation

**I know, i didn't update last week. For that i apologise. Now on with the story.**

* * *

**Unknown system**

The moment Mr Smith realised the situation they were in he immediately began spouting orders to his crew in a calm and even tone. He was far too professional to let his anxiety show through to the rest of his crew. A good leader must be fearless in any situation lest those fears spread to the people under their command. When people are afraid they are nervous. When people are nervous they are liable to make mistakes. When people make mistakes in dangerous situations, people get killed.

"Divert auxiliary power to the cloak. Maintain maximum stealth profile. Helm, take us closer but be ready to immediately go to hyperspace. I want as detailed a sensor mapping as possible of everything out there without compromising our stealth profile. Once all space contacts have been identified I want scans of the surface."

Against all odds he seemed to have found himself smack dab in the middle of the lions den. Now he had to get what data he could, before getting out again and reporting his findings, because sending a message while they were even in the same system as this armada was simply not an option if they wanted to make it out of here alive. There were so many ships around them that the odds of a subspace transmission not being detected, and their position being located as a result, were so remote it wasn't worth considering. They would be lucky just to get the shields up before the first volley hit them, and even with their shields one volley would be enough to vaporize them.

Thankfully they weren't completely surrounded, while admittedly there were a frightening number of capital ships around them there were no roaming patrols of fighters to avoid. Unfortunately there was no guarantee that this was a good thing. From a tactical perspective this could be seen as an oversight, unless of course the fleet is about to leave soon and the fighter craft needed to be secure in their hangers. Either way they needed to report this discovery quickly so that they could make preparations.

"Sir we have a count on the ships in orbit," the sensor operator reported.

"And?"

"The ships seem to be grouped into battle groups we have on record and smaller groups of five of the new battlecruiser type and five troop transports. Current count is twenty battle groups and ten each of the battlecruiser and transport groups."

Mr Smith's eyes widened. That put the count at well over eight hundred ships, only half of which could be considered to be weak. Of course since they all moved in large groups they would be hard to take on without utilising multiple capital ships of their own. If this force hit one of their worlds they would lose that planet, and a lot of ships and lives along with it.

"Have you completed scans of the surface?"

"Yes sir."

Mr Smith considered the options before making a decision. "Helm, get us out here. Com, get me a secure link to Colonel Sheppard."

The ship lurched slightly as the inertial dampeners struggled to keep up with the sharp turns the pilot performed to manoeuvre around the field of ships. Eventually though the ship cleared the field of ships and was able to charge full speed out of the system, where it could make the jump to hyperspace without being detected.

* * *

**_Weir_**

"Well crap," Sheppard said. He had just read the full report on the discovery of _Eagle One_ and he had to admit it didn't seem like they could have found anything worse. Although given the way their luck was going lately he wasn't going to tempt fate, or Murphy, by saying that out loud.

"Crap indeed," agreed Thor, who had beamed in, throne chair and all, to the bridge for the meeting.

"Any thoughts?" Sheppard asked.

"We do not want to take on that fleet directly with our own offensive fleet. However we cannot allow it to depart for one of our protected worlds."

Sheppard frowned. Thor was one hundred percent correct, and that meant they were rather short on options. It was a classic catch twenty two situation. They couldn't attack the fleet directly but they couldn't take it on with the defences they possessed on other worlds. The truly annoying thing was that this fleet wasn't far from Calium, which really wasn't good if they wanted to get the Calium people out of their and onto Concordia after they dealt with the Zarasian forces on the planet.

"So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place," Sheppard summarised. "You know I could really do with some good news right about now."

"I believe I have it for you," Thor said. "Have you finished reading the second report on the planet based assets?"

"Unlike you I lack a computer for a brain," Sheppard deadpanned.

Thor's lip twitched into the faintest trace of a smile. "I shall summarise for you then. There a sizeable number of ground emplacements, however most are plasma cannons and thus relatively low yield. However the important thing is that there are a number of shipyards and mining operations which makes this world a necessary target to destroy. The critical aspect though is that there are a number of small areas that contain high numbers of human life signs. I believe these are where we will discover the missing Calium people, as well as any other prisoners the Zarasians may have taken recently."

"Yeah, if it wasn't for the massive fleet in orbit."

"That is only a problem so long as they are there."

Sheppard's eyes widened in understanding as he realised just what Thor was planning.

"So we lure them away."

"Exactly."

"How?"

Thor glanced out the window. "We do what we do best, liberate a world from oppression.

Sheppard frowned. "But if we're not quick enough then we'll be caught by a fleet we can't take on while in the middle of a rescue operation."

"Then we have to make sure that situation does not occur," Thor stated.

Sheppard nodded in agreement. This would require precise timing and precision planning in order to succeed. A single misstep could lead to them being caught around the planet without support while they had assets on said planet. If they succeeded they would save an entire world and deal a grievous wound to the enemy, but if they failed they could very well lose the entire fleet and potentially even the war. In other words success was mandatory and failure was not an option.

"Okay, let's get the ball rolling. There are some things we need to do first if we are going to pull this off."

* * *

**_O'Neill_**

In an isolated room on the mighty warship a metallic orb floated inside a containment field. The orb was one of the avatars for the AI named caretaker and had been under observation for some time now. Ever since its capture during the battle at Vejovis' secret base the AI had been reduced to rambling the odd phrase at seemingly random intervals. Any Asgard, or anyone else for that matter, who had tried to question the AI had needed to go and sit somewhere quiet for a little while afterwards in order to clear their head. Apparently attacking the AI's central computer core and then jumping into hyperspace away from said computer core had been the equivalent of unplugging a flash drive without safely disconnecting it. In other words the AI, or the part of it residing in the avatar, had become corrupted. Or as young Johnny O'Neill had put it the thing was more than a few slices short of a full pie.

Strangely the young clone seemed to be spending the most time talking to the thing. Theories as to why ranged from him trying to get tactical information out of the thing to simply enjoying taunting a machine that would happily vaporize you if it could but was utterly powerless to do so.

Currently the two were arguing over whether the modifications to the _Tria_ were an improvement or not.

"So, you ready to concede the point yet glow ball?"

"Negative inheritor, your logic is flawed…maintenance check complete, all systems fully operational. Next scheduled check in one hour, dispatching maintenance robots to next location…You are operating from an unstable level of understanding."

Johnny laughed. "I'm unstable. You're one to talk."

Caretaker flashed red in frustration. "Incorrect."

"Correct."

"Incorrect."

"Correct."

"Incorrect...sensor sweeps clear, no threat detected."

"Ha! See I was right."

"No you weren't."

"Were too."

"Were not."

"Were too."

"Were not."

"Were too, times a billion."

"Were not, times infinity," the AI chirped happily. "Fault in power grid detected. Dispatching maintenance robots. Adjusting power flow. Stable flow to stasis pods eight through eleven re-established…I win."

"Keep telling yourself that."

Standing in the doorway Thor couldn't help but shake his head at the exchange.

"O'Neill," he said, announcing his presence. "It is time."

"See you glow ball," Johnny said. "I have to go to work."

"You will die inheritor," Caretaker said confidently.

"No fear, a friend of mine has done that plenty of times and we still can't get rid of him."

"Why do you insist on talking to that thing?" Thor asked. "My scientists tell me the AI is so corrupted it is a miracle the thing can actually form coherent sentences."

"I wanted to test a theory."

"And?"

"And it looks like I was right."

* * *

Deep in the space between systems sat a single ship that was so old it was practically ancient. Over ten thousand years ago this aurora look a like had been constructed by the Lanteans as a warship capable of challenging the Wraith horde. However even the vast stores of drone weapons carried in her holds would eventually run dry before the sheer numbers of Wraith ships were destroyed, at which point the shields would be overwhelmed and the ship either destroyed or reduced to a powerless wreck. This particular vessel had been in such an encounter and survived, if only by the slimmest of margins. Crippled and left adrift, the vessel had been listed as lost, only to be recovered by Vejovis for use many thousands of years later.

Now, restored to the point where it was practically new, the ship was once again a power among the stars. Under the command of Vejovis however the ship was not meant to be a warship but rather an ark, meant to hold the resurrected Alteran race until such time as the galaxy was ready to accept their return. Until then they would sleep away the time in stasis, waiting for the day they had been promised would eventually come and they would rule over the first of many galaxies.

As the ship sat undisturbed three masses of white light moved towards the ship. Bypassing the shields and the hull of the vessel as if they were not there the masses reshaped themselves into three beings, glowing with an aura of raw power. Janus, Oma and Morgan calmly strode through the corridors of the ship. Using their abilities to mask their presence they were completely unnoticed by the guardian robots that were performing routine patrols and system maintenance.

After touring the ship for a few minutes they were confronted by a glowing mass so much larger and brighter than them it was almost like comparing a candle to the sun. That mass quickly reformed into Vejovis, his body crackling with power and his expression showing quite clearly that their presence here was very unwanted.

"And just what are you three doing here?" he practically spat.

"Nice to see you again too Vejovis," Janus replied with fake tenderness. "Lovely ship you have here, although the real treasure is the contents of the stasis pods. One in particular I might add."

"If you go anywhere near any single one of those pods I will annihilate you," Vejovis growled with venom. "Now if you want to live I suggest you leave this ship before my patience runs out."

"We didn't come here to fight Vejovis," Oma said, calm even in the face of certain death.

"A fight implies that both sides have an equal chance of winning," Vejovis pointed out. "You three against me however would only end in a slaughter."

"We know," Morgan admitted. "However we do not want to challenge you."

Vejovis looked at the three with curiosity, Janus seemed determined to antagonise him while Morgan and Oma were trying to keep the peace.

"We're just here to deliver a message," Janus added. "Well, more like a warning really."

For the first time since they had arrived Vejovis actually looked amused. "And what danger is there that I should be worried about?"

"How about the multitude of races that are currently stacked against your human puppet?" Janus asked sarcastically. "They seem to be doing quite well at the moment if the current state of the _Doom Bringer_ is anything to go by."

"A minor set back," Vejovis scoffed. "In the end they will fall and then there will be several galaxies ripe for the taking."

"Do you want to hear this warning or not?" Janus asked.

"Oh by all means, I could do with a good laugh," Vejovis replied in amusement.

Oma and Morgan breathed a silent sigh of relief. The tension in the room seemed to be diffusing nicely. Perhaps they would make it out of this alive.

"Leave this galaxy," Janus said seriously. "Find another world in another galaxy. Rebuild our race there alongside Cura and leave these people in peace."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because if you don't when they have finished with your puppet they will come for you. And I can guarantee that after all the bloodshed from this war they won't show you or your children any mercy."

"Zarin won't stop because I have gone you know."

"No, but then again your final act in this galaxy could be to remove him from the equation."

Vejovis looked at him curiously for a moment before his mask cracked and he broke down laughing. "Oh this is rich. You actually think you can end this war by scaring me? By holding the lives of my children over my head?" His expression darkened. "You really are fools, all of you."

"Vejovis we're trying to help you," Morgan said reproachfully.

Vejovis snorted. "No, you're interfering."

"On the contrary," Oma replied. "We don't plan to interfere."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really," Oma assured him. "We won't lift a finger to help the allied races but we will try to help you by warning you while we still can. And in case you were wondering we won't be telling them where this ship is."

Vejovis studied the three of them curiously for a few moments.

"Well thank you for the warning," he finally said. "Now if you wouldn't mind please get off my ship before I remove you and leave you unconscious on the nearest world with a breathable atmosphere."

"Alright, alright, we're going," Oma said as she raised her hands in surrender.

As the three of them turned to leave Janus glanced back at him.

"Your puppet is about to suffer a grievous wound, and when that happens I hope you will reconsider," he said before vanishing.

Vejovis glared at the spot where Janus had been before assuming his energy based form and flying off at high speed.

Now a good distance from the ship the three ascended noted his departure and decided it was finally safe to speak.

"Do you think he believed us?" Janus asked.

"I don't know but I do believe you did a very good job of antagonising him, perhaps too good a job," Morgan replied.

"Hey!" Janus said reproachfully. "You know that I had to be the one, it's what he expects of me. He would be suspicious otherwise."

"He's right," Oma agreed.

"I know," Morgan admitted. She lapsed into silence for a few moments before finally saying, "He won't stop will he?"

Neither of them replied to her question, they all knew the answer. Vejovis wouldn't give up. He had come too far to simply give up. In his mind he had to succeed to guarantee the safety of his children.

"He believed we won't tell the allied races where his ship is," Janus said. "If he didn't that ship would be long gone by now."

"Of course he did," Oma said. "I was telling the truth the whole time."

"I know, and I hate it. All our powers, our experience, wisdom and knowledge and we cannot do anything to help."

"For the sake of victory that is how it must be," Morgan assured him. "By doing nothing to interfere we assure them victory over him."

* * *

**Calium**

It was around midday in the capital city of Calium, and against all laws of onomatopoeia was actually quite a nice day. The sun was shining brightly on the city square, high in the clear, blue and almost cloudless sky, and if you listened very closely you could hear the sound of relatively harmless flying lizards. And of course this lovely weather was, ironically, being completely overshadowed by the bleak atmosphere of the locals as they stood through one of Malek's attempts at making the local populace more compliant with the Zarasians presence.

When the Zarasians had taken control of the city they had quickly moved to seize control of the people in power. The highest on the list were the various military leaders and, of course, the Calium president. One of the most devastating parts of the Zarasian invasion was when they had turned the Calium president into a puppet. By first taking control of various individuals with access to him they had gained access to him, and had been able to attach a string to him. Having the effective ruler of a world as your personal voice box is a powerful card to have at your disposal and the Zarasians had played this card to spectacular effect. They had ordered the Calium defence forces to move aside and allow the Zarasians to march into their city, their towns, and even their very homes, completely unopposed. The cherry on top had been when they had gotten the president himself to walk down the steps of the presidential building to shake hands with the Zarasian commanding officer.

However it seemed that the one at the helm of the puppets was not the one in charge of the Zarasian forces. Ever since Calium had been effectively conquered the cyborg brute otherwise known as Malek had taken control and he ruled with an iron fist, as opposed to an unapparent choke hold that the puppet master had seized control with. Every day like clockwork Malek would roll out his puppet to the village square, where there was a podium and microphone waiting for him, and make him spew utter sewage about why it was so good to have the Zarasians on their world. Speakers spread across the city and various colonies would mean that every Calium citizen was hearing this speech.

The spiel usually followed along the lines of how it was divine providence that the Zarasians were here, that the ancestors had willed it. The Zarasians were the agents of the ancestors will, attempting to unite the galaxy together under one banner and that one day they would all bask in the light of the ancestor's glory when they returned. And on that day they would be freed from hunger, disease and poverty. But of course that day would only come once the evil of those outsiders who claimed to be their protectors was wiped from the galaxy. In other words the allied races had to go, never mind the fact that some of them were actually native to this galaxy in the first place.

Still it didn't stop a crowd from turning up to listen to the speech first hand as it was delivered, kept a fair distance back from the podium by two rings of reaper guards. The reason for attendance was anyone's guess. Perhaps some people were waiting for the record to change. Perhaps they wanted to see with their own eyes their illustrious leader sell them out so that they could actually believe it. Perhaps they wanted to make it look like they were interested in what was being said so that they would just be left alone and their families kept safe. Or, and this was the most disturbing thing of all, perhaps they were actually buying what the Zarasians were selling. It was a shame really, since with his kind face and full, thick beard the Calium president came across as being lovable and wise. Handled differently people might have been more willing to listen to the speeches he was forced to give and under control of someone other than Malek he might be doing more than ruining his chances for re-election. But either way this little circus was about to come to the end of its final act.

Scattered amongst the crowd were a number of cloaked figures. Cloaks weren't uncommon on Calium since the temperature was much lower so high in the atmosphere so the figures received no special attention from the reapers. Moving silently, they gently pushed their way through the crowd to reach the outer ring of reapers holding the crowd back. Seeing no visible threat, no weapons in their hands, the reapers paid their presence no mind, although a sentient creature might have noted that there was now one cloaked figure in front of each reaper along the outer ring and become slightly suspicious of their presence.

By now the Calium president was halfway through his speech and the crowd were somewhat bored. None of them suspected what was about to happen next. Moving like vipers the cloaked figures brought up their arms and slammed their wrists into the necks of the reapers in front of them before they could react. Pulling their arms back a long thin blade attached to their wrists, now coated in blood, slid out of the necks of each of the reapers. The silent guards collapsed to the floor, the blade having pierced their jugular vein and their wind pipe and causing them to drown on their own blood. Before the crowd could even utter a cry of shock or the first ring of reapers hit the ground the agents brought up their respective gun arms, having expertly drawn their side arms with practised ease and aimed for the second ring. With a single shot to the head from the particle magnums the second, and final, ring of reapers dropped to the floor. As the crowd started to panic and flee the agents sprang forwards towards their target, president Hakim, who was still continuing with his speech. One of the agents fired a single stun blast at him. However as the blast struck him Hakim remained conscious. As the energy dispersed across his body it grounded itself on a large concentration of metal, in other words the string attached to his back. Hakim collapsed to his knees as the force controlling him vanished as the internal circuitry of the string was fried by the energy blast. In moments agents were beside to help him to his feet, but he shrugged off their assistance. He finally had control of his body back and he was going to make it move as he wanted it to, pain be damned.

As he got back to his feet two of the agents quickly assembled a transport beacon, allowing for armoured figures to appear in flashes of right light around the podium in a defensive formation.

* * *

Malek was sitting in his office indulging his favourite past time, listening to his puppet say whatever he wanted. In actual fact it was Hakim's office but it wasn't like the Calium president was in a position to argue the point. It amused him greatly to know that if he wanted he could make the Calium president do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Of course he didn't, since his superiors wouldn't be very happy if he went too far, but he could still have the president give his daily speeches.

In his mind the speeches were a brilliant idea, allowing the foolish peasants to think they were safely under the protection of the Zarasian military. In reality though they were being slowly removed from this world and shipped off to a prison until they could be put to work serving the Zarasian Empire.

He was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice saying "Hello Malek, my name is Colonel Sheppard."

Malek was out of his chair in an instant and levelling the energy cannon in his artificial arm at the intruder that had suddenly appeared in front of him. Seeing the spiky haired man in a Tau'ri uniform standing before him he did not hesitate to fire. Malek's look of anger turned into one of confusion when the energy blast passed through the figure as if he were made of smoke.

Sheppard smirked. "I'm not really here. Nice office by the way, although I suppose I should be saying that to its actual owner."

Malek scowled. "I am its owner."

"No, the owner is currently safely in our hands," Sheppard corrected.

Now it was Malek's turn to smirk. "I don't think so."

"I do," Sheppard said. "Or haven't you noticed the lack of background music?"

Malek frowned as he attempted to figure out what the Tau'ri meant when suddenly it clicked. The speech he had been listening to had stopped.

"Figured it out have we?"

"So what?" Malek spat while subtly reaching round to press a button on the side of his fake limb. "So I've lost my puppet. I still control this world. My forces are on alert and a distress beacon has been activated. Help is coming and your forces will lose."

"Yeah about that," Sheppard said while casually scratching his head. "President Hakim is going to need a new office, because there is a drone weapon with your name on it heading your way. Last chance to surrender Malek."

"Oh very good Colonel," Malek laughed. "But you won't fool me. I know that the weapons you call drones are mere shadows of the ones the ancestors used, and while theirs could certainly harm me yours cannot."

"True," Sheppard admitted. "Our drones lack the ability thus far to bypass shields, however if one was already inside the shield then that isn't a problem. Look out the window if you don't believe me."

Curious Malek actually did what Sheppard suggested and looked out the window. In the distance he could see a figure standing on a rooftop and holding a large tube. Without warning a bright light shot out of the end of the tube and came barrelling straight towards him.

"How did you think we got Hakim out of your clutches?"

For once Malek didn't have a reply to give. Instead he just ran for a concealed emergency chute and dived straight into it. The chute had been installed a long time ago in the days when Wraith attacks were more common and led to the entrance to an armoured trinium bunker located deep beneath the presidential building. Malek may be a brute and lack fine tactical sense but he wasn't self sacrificing. If there was a way out he would find it and, when the time came, he would definitely take it. It seemed that time had come. It took mere moments to seal the bunker, and he wasn't the only one inside. The Zarasians had converted the bunker into a command centre and installed the onsite queen inside, the bunker being the most secure place on the planet.

When the bolts on the armoured door clicked into place Malek breathed a sigh of relief. But when he heard the voice behind him he nearly had a heart attack.

"Nice try Malek."

Malek spun around and found himself face to face with a smiling Sheppard.

"You know our drones may lack the ability to bypass shields but they can cut through trinium and rock like a hot knife through butter. Like the materials this bunker is made of." The metallic ceiling started to glow red as the drone inched closer and closer to the target, it very quickly started to liquefy and drip onto the floor. "Oh and thank you for sending that distress signal, we appreciate it. Bye Malek."

Before Malek, or any of the Zarasians in the bunker, could even cry out the drone cut through the last of the armoured ceiling and detonated. The detonation of the liquid naquadah and potassium warhead was powerful enough to not only vaporise the inhabitants but collapse the entire bunker. As a result the building above found itself lacking a central foundation on which to stand and collapsed in on itself. President Hakim suddenly found himself without a place to live and the reapers found themselves without human leaders.

In space above the planet the six Zarasian battlecruisers suddenly found themselves completely surrounded by warships of varying sizes. In a storm of plasma beams, ion cannon rounds and plasma blasts the battlecruisers were annihilated.

The allied forces had officially arrived on Calium.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	84. Reactions and Counters

**Calium**

The capital city was in uproar at the sudden upsets. First the presidents building had been demolished moments after a glowing object had swooped down and entered the building through the roof. It was largely suspected that the entirety of the Zarasian human officers had been inside the building at the time, and now they were buried under several tons of rubble. So the question was what were the cyborg soldiers going to do now that their masters were dead? Then the most unexpected thing of all had happened, their president had started talking to them.

Oh he had been talking to them before, delivering his speech over the Zarasian installed speakers. However that speech had lacked the spark they had come to associate with Hakim, and a lot of people strongly suspected that it had something to do with his sudden inexplicable love for the Zarasians. But now his voice contained that same spark that made you want to listen to what he was saying, that energy that had won him every election by a landslide, and he certainly wasn't trying to sell the same crap they had been forced to listen to every day for what seemed like eternity. Instead he was denouncing their presence on their world and assuring people that their liberation was at hand, at the hands of the races that just five minutes ago he had been insulting at length.

Now he was urging to people to get off the streets, bar their doors and confine themselves in their basements with their families. Whatever they did they needed to get away from the reapers, to flee away from the reapers if they saw one. Because wherever there was a reaper now then sooner or later there would be a soldier of their liberators, and when those two forces met there would undoubtedly be fighting, which could result in collateral damage. Lives could be lost in the crossfire that ensued, civilian lives. These brave men and women coming to free them from their oppressors could certainly overcome the reapers even while protecting the civilians, but it would honestly be much easier if people would just get out of their way and let them get on with it.

It actually wasn't that hard for people to follow this particular presidential order as the majority of them were already in their homes, hiding from the very creatures they had been told to avoid. Many were afraid of the creatures, and by now the rumours had started to circulate about the abductions. The Smiths had been busy, very busy. It's amazing how a dozen people splitting up and going to separate pubs and inns and then just not talking quietly can spread a rumour. What people who work in intelligence know is that is just by listening in a crowded room to the various conversations you can gain an impressive amount of information. Now that been said not all of this information is going to be accurate and the majority, if not all, is going to be either speculation or opinion, which is the polite way of saying completely unfounded and just plain wrong. However the golden nuggets amongst all this concentrated manure are there if you are willing to sift through it all but that wasn't the real gem. No, the real gem was the knowledge of why this manure isn't immediately discarded by people upon hearing it. A lie, a truly good lie, survives so long because it is laced with truth. Just a small amount of truth for a mind to grasp onto is all it takes to make a lie believable.

So what did the Smiths do? They created a lie sprinkled with the truth. Then they took their public knowledge gathering technique and flipped it so that it became a dispersion technique. The method of delivery was actually quite simple. Working in two person cells they would enter an establishment and take a table close to a corner. A little while later a member of another cell would enter and take a seat in the corner. Then some time later the other half of that cell would take a seat and the two would begin a conversation not too loud so that the entire room could hear but loud enough so that people nearby could hear.

"Is this place safe?"

"No reapers or Zarasians here, I guarantee it. Now talk."

"It's happened."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. I got the request to the meeting and it was just what you said it would be like."

"You know what you have to do then."

"Of course I know but what where will we go?"

"Anywhere you can. It's better than them coming to look for you and the alternative doesn't bear thinking about."

"Can't you do something?"

"No I can't! You know I can't and you know why. If I help you I can't keep doing what I'm doing and that will put a lot more people at risk than just your family."

"But they are my family! You know what that means, what I'll do to protect them if necessary."

"Then do what you have to because I've done all I can. I've given you a chance, which is more than you would get if our so called saviours find you or you went to that meeting."

"I know, thank you."

"Don't mention it. Really, don't mention it. To anyone."

"I won't."

And with that the mysterious pair would disappear and people would begin to talk about what they had overheard. Sometimes though the conversation wouldn't be picked up to an acceptable level so the second cell would provide a booster to get the ball rolling and this conversation would not be as quiet.

"Did you hear what he said?"

"I'm not having this conversation."

"You remember what I've been saying to you about people disappearing all this time? Well it looks like I was right."

"You don't know that. They could have been talking about anything."

"Oh come on, you can't seriously think this is just a coincidence. You know as well as I do that people have been disappearing and now we know why. Our so called saviours have been kidnapping them."

"I told you that I'm not having this conversation!"

"What next, they just start taking us off the streets? Well not me! There is no way I'm letting my family wonder the streets now."

"Shut up!"

"Fine!"

With that the two would leave the inn and leave the civilians to talk amongst themselves, and talk they had. Rumours about their imminent demise and what the Zarasians had planned for them spread like wildfire amongst the civilian population. Fear and paranoia ran rampant, causing most people to barricade their doors and stay inside. Exactly what the allies needed them to do. With the civilians tucked away behind brick walls they wouldn't be hurt as their forces purged the capital of reapers, and a few hulks and behemoths. Even the civilians who had stuck around to listen first hand to the presidents latest speech were being slowly but steadily removed from the engagement zone.

When the agents had established a defensive formation around the Calium president they had also activated a transport pillar. The devices were essentially a fusion of Asgard transporter beams and Ancient transport rings, combining the best of both technologies. Rings allowed you to bypass shields but required the target to be completely encircled, while transport beams allowed you to move tons of material in a single instance but couldn't bypass shields. Transport pillars could lock onto and transport anything within their, admittedly limited, sensor range. A single pillar couldn't move an entire army but sometimes just the arrival of a tank, or a titan, was enough to make a difference. It certainly was in this case. Surrounded by highly trained soldiers clad in tempest armour and wielding railgun rifles the president was better protected than in the hands of his own security. Even a few squads of reapers would weigh the tactical options of taking on this force and determine they had slim to none odds of survival. The two close combat titans flanking the podium were just icing on the cake, and their shields enveloped each other and the podium.

* * *

In the dockyards of Calium life had continued as normal at the start of the day. Workers had arrived to unload crates as they were brought in by cargo ships, under the watchful eyes of reapers. Apparently no one had told them that they were in danger of being snatched away at a moments notice by the monsters the Zarasians called foot soldiers because they went about their duties without complaint. Crate after crate was unloaded with precision and efficiency, with the ship hands even lending a hand to make sure their cargo holds were emptied in short order. If the onlookers however had not been the simple drones incapable of independent thought that went by the name reapers then they might have noticed something odd about the situation. Each of the crates being unloaded was massive, ten feet tall at least, and they were being laid out in a line, with no crate stacked on another and no second row of crates.

When the background music that had been President Hakim's speech suddenly took on a more rebellious note however the dock workers suddenly started to move with a purpose. The resistance had not been able to actively infiltrate the city because no one was allowed to leave or enter unless they were manning the cargo ships, and once their business was done they would be identified and required to leave with the ship they came on. However the return of the allies to this world had changed that fact. Though they couldn't replace the people working on the docks, who underwent similar checks to the ship crews, they could meet with them and convince them to help.

The cargo ship crews had been a different matter however. In this regard the allies faced the same problem as the Zarasians had, someone needed to crew the ships. More importantly it had to be people who knew how to completely operate them. Calium airships were delicate things when it came to their inner workings. In order for them to be kept running the engines needed to be constantly monitored or there was a danger they might fail or even explode. There are no monitoring programs that kick in automatically to prevent human error on a steam powered airship. Because of this the Zarasians had been forced to only attach the commanding officers with strings. They gave orders and the ships crews obeyed, although for good measure they were assigned randomly amongst the ships so that the crews didn't get too suspicious.

However the ships were vulnerable when they weren't inside the protective cover of the transport inhibitor field generated on each floating island the Zarasians had gained a foothold on. It had been a simple matter for the allies to beam down soldiers armed with particle magnums to neutralise any hostile forces aboard. Then the crews were replaced with members of the resistance who knew exactly how to operate the airships and knew the plan for saving their people. All of this happened without the slightest change in the airships headings and the Zarasians were none the wiser.

The contents of the cargo holds had been replaced as well. Instead of food and other essential supplies the ten foot tall crates had been put in their place, and when the rebellion speech began the contents inside began to stir. As the humans ran for cover and the safety of the cargo ships the crates burst open as the massive bulk of dozens of ten foot tall titans forced their way out. Upon emerging the pilots of these battlesuits immediately began engaging the reaper guards, using their close combat load outs to great effect. Reapers fell in droves while hulks, their stronger cousins, managed to put up a meagre defence before they too collapsed as their bodies were pot marked with plasma burns.

Dozens of mechanised warriors pressed deeper into the city, fighting off the petty resistance the Zarasians were mustering. But they knew that this was just the opening act of the battle, the initial moves where the other side would lash out while the other reacted to their presence. So far the Zarasian forces had not been able to respond to the presence of enemy forces in their midst, and the Tau'ri didn't expect them to with any co-ordination. However something like a behemoth lashing out reflexively is not something that can be simply overlooked, or easily dealt with all the potential civilian casualties present, and until the shield was brought down they wouldn't be either.

* * *

**Zarasian Homeworld**

The world the Zarasian people had eventually taken to calling home could be found far from other inhabited systems. Located along the outer rim of the galaxy, in an area where star systems were few and far in between and life sustainable worlds were even rarer it had never been visited by the Wraith. When Zarin and his followers had been exiled from Averia they had not simply walked through the stargate and set up camp on the other side of the gate. Instead they had done the smart thing and gone through several gates, using co-ordinates liberated from the database in the Ark. It had time and study of the database to find this world but it had been worth it. As suspected they hadn't been bothered by the Wraith since they had settled here, and the abundant resources present provided them with the materials necessary to establish an industrial machine after many years.

Ironically if it wasn't for the generosity of their former people in providing them with all the base resources required to establish a colony the Zarasians might not have emerged as a galactic power for centuries at best or millennia at worst. But they hadn't accounted for the Zarasians tenacity or their plunder of the Ark. Acquiring Eurielle had allowed them to beat the issue of population growth and a labour force by lab growing workers. Reapers were stronger than humans, so they could work harder, longer and even go for days without rest on very little food. A small reaper work force quickly expanded the number of facilities producing reapers and worked larger fields of farmland than the Zarasians could have hoped to in a century of population growth. Without the need for basic labour the Zarasian humans had been able to dedicate their time to educating their people on the sciences, preserving their knowledge and even expanding on it as the secrets of the Ark database were unlocked.

In under a millennium the Zarasians went from a small colony of a few thousand people to a thriving metropolis containing millions of people, and that was just the capital city where the humans lived. By the present day the Zarasians had spread their tendrils to many colony worlds, each of which further strengthened their infrastructure and military might. Inside hatcheries millions of reapers were growing and upon emergence would go on to become vital cogs in the machine that was the Zarasian Empire.

Separate from the vast cityscape were the industrial zones where the real growth of the Zarasian Empire took place. Every new ship built, rifle made, combat vehicle that trundled off the assembly line and cybernetic component completed meant the Zarasian Empire grew that much larger, that much stronger, that much more dangerous.

Surrounded by smaller berths that held the skeletal frames of dozens of smaller vessels in various states of completion was a ship that had become infamous throughout the galaxy. The _Doom Bringer_ had returned to the place where she had spent years being built. Battered, bloodied and bruised she had limped home to receive vital treatment that she needed if she was ever going to fight another battle and win.

Vast amounts of resources had been diverted to this shipyard to restore the ship to full working order, with ant like figures crawling over her superstructure replacing burnt out shield emitters and weapon emplacements. The damage would take quite some time to repair but Zarin was determined to see his flagship back amongst the stars once again.

From the observation tower in the shipyard Zarin lounged in his chair, watching the progress being made, with a near permanent frown upon his otherwise handsome features. Around him were some of his most trusted people, key members of the Zarasian Empire.

"How long?" he asked.

"Work is progressing on schedule sir," Malek, his chief engineer replied calmly. "It will not be long."

Zarin grunted. He couldn't fault Malek for his work, especially since the man was the best engineer in the entire empire. In actual fact the work was progressing faster than originally expected, with the repair schedule having been brought forward twice already thanks to his efforts. Zarin counted himself lucky that the man had not been present on his old flagship before it had been destroyed by his own hand, something he was still annoyed about. He had hoped to turn his former flagship into a monument, something for his citizens to look at in pride for generations to come. Alas that was not to be the case. Still, there was no point dwelling on what could not happen. It was best to focus on his current flagship.

"And the potentia?"

"Fully functional and almost fully charged."

Zarin found himself once again grateful for the Ark and its little treasure trove of ancestral creations. When his followers had acquired the three crystalline constructs and smuggled them off the planet he had never imagined how valuable they would prove to be. It wasn't until much later that the true power they offered him, quite literally as it happened, had become known. And what a wonderful opportunity they allowed him. By utilising the three potentia as the power source of the _Doom Bringer_ he was able to construct a ship with firepower disproportionate to its size, with the space not taken up by massive power generators being used to hold a mechanised army of three million reapers, plus numerous hulks and behemoths now joining them.

"Practically only powering the hyperdrive has meant minimal use," Malek added bitterly.

Zarin resisted the urge to snort in amusement. Engineers seemed to have an interesting attachment to their machines. Perhaps it was all the time they dedicated towards keeping them functioning to perfection. Although it could have something to do with the fact that Malek had personally designed the _Doom Bringer_ from the ground up and overseen its construction since the beginning. The ship was, metaphorically speaking, his baby. Malek's name would go down in Zarasian history for this, which was another source of amusement for Zarin.

"You have a countermeasure to that weapon of theirs I presume?"

"Of course Etere."

"How are your latest projects coming along Azamoth?" Zarin asked.

"All tests have proven successful Etere," Azamoth cackled. "And your ship will be fully stocked with the latest models before it is ready to depart."

"Very good."

"Darian, how are our military operations proceeding?"

Darian was Zarin's trusted right hand man, the man every other officer in the Zarasian forces aspired to be. Zarin's personal favourite. Of course no one had yet clued in as to why he was Zarin's personal favourite. Darian was, simply put, an administrator. He was in fact a superlative administrator, but an administrator none the less. This meant that he was not a tactician or an inspirational leader, unlike Zarin. Darian knew this as well and Zarin knew that despite the respect and authority given to him that Darian would never attempt to usurp his position.

"Our forces are moving as planned, and the population of Calium will shortly be completely relocated to storage."

Storage, such a cold and callous word when used to talk about people and yet, nonetheless, it was accurate about the Calium natives. One by one they had been gathered, stringed and shipped off to a holding facility, where they would remain until they were needed in the new order.

"How long until they are in position?"

"We are still corroborating the last of the locations viability. Until the reports are completely compiled I have ordered our forces to hold position so that they are on hand if needed."

"And the strike force?"

"Ready to deploy at a moments notice, they simply need a target."

Zarin's predatory grin could have made a shark proud. "Very good. Perhaps our enemies will be good enough to provide us with one shortly."

"If necessary Etere they can always be relocated to Calium to provide additional security."

"Yes but it would be such a waste to simply place them around such an insignificant little rock."

"Yes Etere, however…" He paused as the miniaturised computer on his wrist beeped. Studying the small screen his expression turned from puzzlement into a frown. "Etere, we are receiving a distress signal from Calium. They are under attack from a massive enemy force, in excess of a hundred warships."

Zarin looked thoughtful. "Well well well, how very interesting. It seems our enemies have decided to make their move at long last."

He had been surprised that they hadn't acted sooner, in order to capitalise on their temporary victory over him with the crippling of the _Doom Bringer_. However if they wanted to wait why should he complain, since the longer they left his forces alone the sooner his flagship would be back online.

"And what does Malek have to say about this situation?" Zarin asked.

"We have been unable to contact him Etere," Darian replied. "They could be jamming our communications. However that should also prevent us from receiving the distress signal. This is most puzzling."

Chief engineer Malek merely snorted. "The distress signal and command centre communications operate on two separate systems in case the other is disabled. Most likely he is dead and buried in his own command centre." He would know after all, he had designed the system to include such a redundancy.

Malek had met the bloated buffoon that had the same name as him once before. They hadn't gotten along and it infuriated him no end that his famous name was being associated with such an incompetent individual.

"Along with the rest of the command staff most likely," Zarin mused. "A smash and grab mission perhaps to rescue the Caliumnians? Or perhaps they intend to hold the line? No unlikely, they wouldn't want to risk being pinned down on such a meagre rock when the _Doom Bringer_ could be upon them in moments."

"My lord, if I may?" Darian asked.

"Of course Darian, speak your mind."

"If this is indeed a rescue mission as you suspect then their ships will be temporarily held in place as they attempt to evacuate the citizens. We could use this opportunity to hit them with overwhelming force and eliminate the entire fleet."

"Ah, the strike force you have on standby?"

"Yes Etere."

"Not a bad strategy, see to it. I want the planet and surrounding space wiped clean of life. But leave the ground forces at home, orbital bombardment will suffice."

Darian nodded and began entering commands on his wrist computer.

"However your strategy lacks a necessary element," Zarin lectured. "You have no way to guarantee that the enemy remains in place while your fleet arrives. Azamoth, have Red Eyes brought fully online."

"Yes Etere," Azamoth said. "And what of Malek if he lives?"

"The only way for the command centre to have been destroyed but the transmitter on the same island remain intact is for the enemy to have somehow bypassed the shield," Malek offered. "Unlikely in the given time frame, unless they managed to somehow sneak inside."

"In other words he has out lived his usefulness since he had allowed such an outcome to occur," Zarin concluded. "Red Eyes is to assume complete command authority and if Malek resists, assuming he is still alive, he is to be killed."

"And if he does not resist?" Malek asked while trying, and failing, to keep the hope out of his voice.

"He will be executed when the battle is over for his incompetence, as an example to others," Zarin answered coldly.

* * *

**Calium**

In the capital city a Zarasian soldier unlike the others stood idle in a warehouse, far from the fighting that had engulfed the city. Standing at three metres tall the creature could easily have been mistaken for any other hulk but closer examination would have revealed the differences. The obvious difference was that this creature had two cybernetic eyepieces instead of just one, both of which were glowing a deep blood red and which gave it the name Red Eyes. However the key differences were those that could be found beneath the surface. For one this creature's cybernetic enhanced brain possessed components that allowed for independent thought and computation, meaning it was capable of strategic analysis and decision making. This reaper had been designed to be a leader of other reapers, a reaper general. But when Azamoth created this monstrosity he hadn't felt the need, or seen the reason, to simply stop at its brain. It had taken time and a lot of resources to complete but Azamoth had replaced this creature's musculature with artificial ones identical to those possessed by Sovaer, and most recently Zarin.

Malek may have been an incompetent commander but his superiors were not. They had seen the logic in having redundancy, and how crippling it could be to lose a hatchery queen and subsequently the connection to the battle command net. Red Eyes, and the less advanced cybernetic reapers like him, were the solution to this problem. With the ability to analyse the current tactical situation and give commands to every Zarasian foot soldier on this planet upon activation Red Eyes set into motion the Zarasian counterattack. Suddenly the allies found themselves facing organised and frighteningly well coordinated resistance, when moments ago they had been walking all over the enemy.

As his cyborg lieutenants reported the approach of more enemy forces on the capital city island and the hydrogen production facility on the surface Red Eyes began issuing orders over the battle net.

"All forces converge on the capital city. Fighters will escort transport vessels and engage enemy aircraft upon contact. Foot soldiers pull back and regroup. All other units will engage the enemy."

There was a ring platform linking straight to the hydrogen production facility that his forces could use to relocate quickly, however if the threat already present was not dealt with then he would have problems later on. Besides there was no fighting at the facility just yet, but the capital city was engulfed in combat.

* * *

**Zarasian Outpost**

With the order from Darian the twenty battle groups and ten battlecruiser groups in orbit of the planet powered their hyperdrives and opened a single massive hyperspace window. Leaving behind the ten troop transport groups the outpost suddenly seemed a lot more vulnerable than it had a few minutes ago, even taking into account the surface based defence platforms.

On the outer edges of the system the _Kalen Aror_ sat under cloak, along with its one hundred and fifty warship escorts and the base ship _Borealis_. And if that wasn't enough the Jaffa had twenty five ships of their own surviving fleet stationed under cloak in the vicinity, including their brand new flagship. The sudden disappearance of the defence fleet had not gone unnoticed by any of them and Borealis was even now tracking their progress through hyperspace. As expected the enemy fleet was heading towards Calium. Once the fleet reached the half way point they would attack the outpost with impunity. Just a little while to go now and the Zarasians wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	85. Countermoves

**Zarasian Outpost**

It is a well acknowledged fact that out of all the races encountered in multiple galaxies thus far that the human race, or sometimes more specifically the humans currently inhabiting Earth, are the most vicious and aggressive race to ever exist. Naturally the humans, especially those of Earth, will try and dispute this fact, citing races such as the Goa'uld as an example of species worse than they are. However the question has to be asked, how many races lacking genetic megalomania do you know that have spent the better part of their recorded history inventing, and sooner or later utilising, new ways to kick the shit out of, if not kill, each other? Now that is not to say that that as a whole humanity is generally a bad race and many of their deeds have proven them to be quite the opposite in fact. However the point, the main heed this warning or you probably will not live to regret it point, is that if you anger them you can expect them to lash out with a viciousness that would make the most blood thirsty Goa'uld wince. The Asgard had even begun to agree the point when their good friends had decided to blow up a sun to take out their at the time biggest enemy. Even the Goa'uld had rules about doing things like that.

The angered humans in this particular instance happened to be the Averian race and to make matters worse they had been attacked by their own kin, the Zarasians, in a time when they were supposed to have left such actions in the past long ago. Needless to say they weren't going to let their exiled brethren off lightly.

Unfortunately for the Zarasians the Averians had been given the location of one of their very valuable supply outposts, whose main fleet had been moved away in an attempt to strike a potentially crippling blow to the allied offensive fleet. Well what the Zarasians assumed to be the offensive fleet of their enemy. Little did they know that the fleet compromised of Asgard and Tau'ri vessels represented only a fraction of the allied races forces. They had been blinded by the repeated use of highly advanced and extremely dangerous technology at the disposal of the Tau'ri and Asgard, the fact that the Wraith had been solely on the defensive this entire time and that the Jaffa and Liberum had recently taken a heavy blow. As a result they had forgotten about the first of the allied races that they had struck out against two years ago, namely their own former people. But they were about to be reminded.

Human military tactics, having been honed after many years of experience, meant that they knew the full dangers of being caught in a surprise attack. Of course if being caught in a surprise attack was dangerous then being caught in an ambush was deadly. A well co-ordinated ambush where the enemy knew everything your forces had at their disposal and had planned how to neutralise every aspect of said forces, well that was literally the worse case scenario. The traitor twins Stheno and Euryale had learned this particular lesson, much to their peril. Now it was time for the Zarasians to learn it as well.

In orbit over the outpost the _Aror_ and her escorting fleet of Averian warship dropped their cloaks. With their weapon nests open and ready to use the Averian vessels opened fire on the orbital satellite defence grid with their broadsides while their plasma beams started pounding on the barrier shield covering the outpost. The satellite grid itself wasn't particularly powerful, consisting of several hundred small scale plasma cannons protected by light shields. They were meant to act as a deterrent to fighters or attack an enemy capital ship on mass using sheer weight of numbers. Against the barrage of plasma cannon fire that an Averian warship was capable of laying down against them they didn't stand a chance. Their shields couldn't even take a single hit before shattering, with the rest of the satellite following suit moments later. Waves of fighter craft being launched in mass from the hangers onboard the warships added their own gunfire to the melody and by hunting in packs increased the tally that much faster.

In response the fifty Zarasian transport craft attempted to manoeuvre out of the line of fire from the fleet of ships and fighters as they waited for the enemy to come into range of the surface cannons. They didn't expect that while they were adjusting their heading a fleet of Jaffa Ha'tak's would de-cloak right next to them and begin to pummel them with heavy plasma cannon fire. With their noses already turned away from the planet they could only attempt to go forwards to get away from the barrage that was consuming entire vessels with ease while continuing to minutely adjust their heading. Thousands of reapers of the Zarasian army were dying by the second without being able to offer even a token resistance. Power that would normally be dedicated to weapons was instead being diverted to shields in an attempt to allow them to survive long enough to escape.

And then just when it looked like the first of the ships would escape the attacking vessels four hyperspace windows opened right in front of them. Emerging back into normal space the four Liberum warships immediately began mercilessly slicing into transport vessels with their beam weapons. As the transports swerved to the right the Ha'tak's continued to charge forwards until they were above the transports, bombarding them with the plasma cannons mounted on their under bellies. As the Ha'tak's were moving into position over the transport fleet the ships were getting clustered together as they attempted to get away from certain death. And that was the problem right there. Death was a certainty and they just didn't know it yet. Although if the pride of the Jaffa fleet and current flagship, the _Anise_, de-cloaking in front of them didn't get the message across then the storm of a hundred and twenty heavy plasma cannons as the ship opened fire did. They didn't stand a chance.

With the transport fleet dead or dying in space the Jaffa flagship turned and pointed its nose toward the remainder of the satellite grid. Having had a front row seat to the utter annihilation of the Zarasian transports the fighter pilots broke off their attack runs and got as far away from the satellites as possible. Being anywhere near those satellites at this point meant being inside the kill zone and that was not somewhere you wanted to be when the guns of a Jaffa and Averian fleet are designated weapons free.

A time honoured doctrine of military combat is to control the skies. Even with world war two level technology uncontested control of the skies makes it that much easier to defeat the enemy, sometimes without even firing a shot with your land based forces. For an interstellar race however that doctrine is further expanded to include a third tier, space. A high ground the Zarasians had now lost possession of.

Thankfully the outposts shield did protect them from the return fire as the ground emplacements opened fire on the enemy fleet in orbit. Designed on the same principles as a city shield the inhabitants of the outpost felt completely safe, knowing their enemy lacked the firepower necessary to penetrate the protective umbrella.

However there was still one piece left to be used by the allied forces, _Borealis_. The base ship had not been idly sitting by while the rest of the forces waited for the Zarasian fleet to cross the half way point. Moving under cloak _Borealis_ had positioned itself over one of the planets poles and very slowly descended into the atmosphere, causing as little a disturbance as possible. Floating high amongst the clouds the flying fortress was able to position itself exactly where it needed to be, directly over the large compound that held the people taken from Calium and who knew how many other worlds. When the shooting started the base ship uncloaked, raised shields and dropped through the atmosphere like a stone. Appearing over the compound caused quite a stir amongst the native Zarasians. Even the semi-sentient reapers looked up in awe at the massive flying snowflake structure that could flatten them in an instant should its propulsion system shut down. For this reason they couldn't fire at it or it would be their undoing. The shield protecting the outpost wouldn't have even the slightest chance of holding up something so massive.

It appeared they were at a stalemate. The allies couldn't come closer for fear of the surface emplacements which they couldn't even damage while the Zarasians couldn't even scratch the base ship even if they wanted to. At least that was how it appeared to the Zarasians.

On the bridge of the _Aror_ Admiral Xander saw the strategic picture very differently. Nodding to himself in approval as the Jaffa fleet swiftly dispatched the remainder of the satellite grid in an impressive display of firepower that would put even his own ships broadsides to shame. The Jaffa certainly didn't do anything half hearted. He noted with interest that the shots that missed the satellites and entered the atmosphere bounced harmlessly off of the outpost shield. Even parts of the shield that received a short and continuous bombardment remained intact and showing no sign of potentially collapsing.

He knew that the Zarasians probably expected him to order the fleet to hold back as long as the outpost shield was still active. Short of bombarding the planet in an attempt to collapse the mantle they didn't have a hope of getting at the planet with their conventional weaponry. So his plan was to target any and all reactors away from the compound that _Borealis_ was currently hovering over. When he had heard the plan from the infamous Doctor McKay he had been sceptical. However the knowledge that the good doctor was willing to stake his reputation on it and what his fellow Averians would do to the man if this turned out to be a suicide mission helped assure him it would work. Hold a gun to his head, or his wife's come to think of it, and the man could probably build a fusion reactor out of a box of spare parts.

So without even a moment's hesitation he ordered his ships to move into weapons range and commence firing. The Zarasians probably thought that they had no idea about the properties of that shield, or that they were very stupid. Admittedly attacking a barrier shield with a weapon weaker than the shield is arguably a very stupid thing to do. No matter how many times you fire the damn thing then as long as it has power the barrier shield won't even fluctuate. Zarasian defensive fire saw several Averian vessels heavily damaged before they could even open fire. And when they did open fire no one thought anything of it. Boy, were they in for a shock.

* * *

**Zarasian Homeworld**

Zarin was enjoying his afternoon tea as he awaited news of the exploits on Calium. As a cyborg he now technically didn't need to eat or drink with any regularity but he enjoyed the taste of the drink and tea was the closest thing to coffee the people of Pegasus had. He was surprised when Malek entered his office. The fleet he had ordered deployed wasn't due to arrive at Calium for several hours yet.

"Ah Malek, what brings you here? I believe the fleet is still several hours away."

Malek hesitated before answering causing Zarin to frown. "Yes Etere they are. However that is not why I came. The outpost we deployed the fleet from is under attack."

Zarin's frown deepened into a scowl. With a mental command via his neural implants the wall sized transparent smart window dimmed and generated an image produced by said outpost's sensors.

"The outpost's status?" Zarin asked as the computer worked to compile all the relevant information to give a tactical overview.

"Last reports indicate the outpost defences are online and fully powered. However the satellite grid is on the verge of being neutralised."

That was good. As long as the shield was online they should be able to hold out. While he knew it was not as energy efficient as the ancestor's city shields they were certainly as effective. Zarin dismissed the latter information out of hand. The satellite grid was limited and meant to engage enemy fighter craft while the surface emplacements were designed to take on capital class vessels. He had not however overlooked the distinctive lack of information in one area of Malek's report.

"And the transport ships?" He already knew the answer.

"Destroyed." Big surprise there. Oh well, it wasn't like he didn't have more reapers to replace those he had lost.

The computer had finally finished compiling the data and started displaying tactical data on the enemy fleet faster than any human eye could follow. Being a cyborg however Zarin received the information directly with the screen simply providing him a visual image of the outpost and the surrounding space in real time.

He tuned in just in time to see the Jaffa flagship finish off the remainder of the satellite grid. Zarin snorted as he finished analysing the enemy fleet. His cousins the Averians didn't have the firepower necessary to get through that shield and the Jaffa weapons wouldn't even come close. That bloated monstrosity of theirs didn't even possess beam weaponry for ancestor's sake.

Malek meanwhile had been studying his data pad and gasped as he received the latest report.

"Etere, over the holding facilities," he said with a note of panic in his voice.

With a thought the image changed to show the skies above the outpost. Even Zarin's eyes widened as the base ship came into view. As was only practical he had studied the information on the Ancients in the database and knew what a city ship looked like. This thing, whatever it was, definitely wasn't a city ship but it did resemble one to a degree. It was certainly impressive. Even he had to admit that much. The question though was what was it? He frowned as he tried to figure out what it could be before realisation struck him. There was only one race he knew of that took design cues from the Ancients and that was the Tau'ri. They had even repurposed an Ancient warship and used it against him. Not to mention the fact that their larger capital ships even somewhat resembled that same class of ship.

It didn't make a difference anyway. So what if they had fashioned what appeared to be a flying fortress after the shape of a city ship. Even their strongest weapons wouldn't make a dent in the outpost's shields and even if they deployed that super weapon of theirs they would only kill the prisoners they must know he had.

He laughed when the Averian warships actually moved forwards and opened fire, with several being crippled before they could even power their weapons. But when several beams hit the shield at the same point and punched their way through his laughter died in his throat as his mouth hung open in shock and his eyes widened.

"Im-im-impossible!" he spluttered.

Time after time they fired, the beams destructive energy penetrating the barrier shield and destroying generator after generator. Eventually the shield started to waver as the power flow began to ebb, but what was worse was that a number of the secondary priority plasma cannons failed completely as power was automatically redirected to maintain the shield. Worse still with a weakened shield even single blasts from the Averian beam weapons were able to pierce the shield and the destruction of generators created massive explosions that consumed both shield emitters and plasma cannons alike, never mind shipyards and barracks.

"How?!" he demanded, smashing his arm into the armrest and warping the metal with his superhuman strength.

"I don't know Etere," Malek replied, equally shocked.

Regaining his composure he replayed the data of the multiple beams impact. Looking closely he noted how the shield initially held and the beams struck the same small area.

"How very clever," he mused as he finally figured out what had happened.

"Etere?"

"It is really quite simple Malek," Zarin explained. "On their own the beams are not powerful enough to penetrate the shield. However the total power of several beams concentrated on the same spot is more than enough to get through." He smiled a predatory grin. "But if it works on our shields it should work on theirs as well."

"Yes Etere, but the outpost…" Malek began before Zarin cut him off.

"The outpost is of little concern in the grand scheme of things. I have more, many more and far more valuable than this one. They have simply delayed our advance and our fleet will shortly arrive." He rubbed his jaw in thought. "Note how they have not used any weapons on the holding compound. In fact if the presence of that flying fortress is any indication of their intentions they plan to rescue our new subjects. Their heroism is a weakness we can exploit."

"Orders sir?"

"I see no reason to make their job easy." He smiled viciously. "Mobilize all surviving forces through the subterranean tunnels to the compound. Let's see how many of their people we can kill before they either succeed or give up."

"Yes Etere."

"Oh and order the fleet to push their hyperdrives to three hundred percent."

Malek frowned. "Etere, that is well beyond the safety margin."

Zarin raised an eyebrow, causing Malek to flinch. He chuckled in amusement. Not many people had the nerve to question him of all people. However he had little use for those who would not even point out facts. "It will not be for long and is sustainable for a little while, but it will be enough to surprise our enemies. No doubt they intend to be off of Calium before we can get to them, unfortunately that will not be the case."

He steepled his fingers together as the image on the screen changed to show a very different world. "Now let's see how Red Eyes is doing."

Azamoth had truly outdone himself with his latest creation, a cyborg like no other. Like him they were a perfect fusion of manufactured biology and cybernetics. In this war Red Eyes and his kindred would be a valuable asset, with each one able to learn from the experiences of the others. With each battle they would grow smarter, become better leaders and maestros of the battlefield.

* * *

The super hulk in question was actually quite busy, attempting to form a more complete tactical picture of the situation than he already had. Communication is one of the keys to waging a successful engagement. Without knowing where your soldiers currently are, or the enemy for that matter, you are essentially leaving your troops to survive against any enemy forces they might stumble across. An entire army, with each soldier separated and alone, can be defeated by a single opponent they never even knew was hunting them.

The Zarasians form of communication however was different than a regular militaries. Each and every soldier, be it a reaper, hulk or even a behemoth was linked by their inherent telepathy to form a hive mind. But instead of thoughts or feelings their hive mind sent complex computer coding, making it completely impossible to hack into by any normal means. With the soldiers transmitting data about their current location and anything their senses detected back to a hatchery queen coupled with sensors, and processed by advanced computer equipment, a surprisingly detailed tactical map can be formed.

Malek had not been aware of this, and unfortunately neither were the allied forces currently storming the planet, but Zarin really didn't trust the capabilities of this particular human commander. For that reason he had secretly smuggled onto the planet a lot more than forces than anyone imagined. Zarin never doubted for a second that the allies would not be back. Being the heroes was in their very nature for ancestor's sake! They just couldn't seem to help it. So he had a secondary hatchery queen quietly installed and a large amount of ground troops secreted away in warehouses, just waiting to be activated, something surprisingly easy to do when your movers are an army of cyborgs operating on automatic. No one had even batted an eye as crate after crate was moved into warehouses across the planet.

The coming engagement would act both as a field test for the new Red Eyes model and strike renewed fear into the hearts of the Zarasians enemies.

As the final computations were performed, and a full three dimensional image came together in the confines of his skull, Red Eyes proceeded to study the image and make plans. He had an entire army of behemoths and hulks at his disposal, and what reapers had survived the initial assault by his adversary of the day.

His attention turned to the airborne transport craft and their accompanying fighter craft. Currently there were numerous enemy air assets on an intercept course, their intent obvious. Tactical evaluation of previous encounters determined that the reaper pilots were unable to match the abilities of the enemy craft at even optimal range, which was much shorter than the enemies own engagement range.

The first to intercept his assets would be a squadron of eight aircraft, all flying in precision formation. There were dozens more fighters approaching on mass some distance behind them and their very presence doomed his convoy of transport craft. Clearly a sacrificial move was required to ensure his transport craft reached the capital city, and the hydrogen production facility beneath. A single transport and its accompanying twelve fighter craft peeled away from the pack, heading directly for the first UCAV squadron. Accelerating to their maximum possible speed, well beyond the upper limit for target acquisition, the fighters and transport quickly found themselves upon the enemy squadron. The AI monitoring the approach determined that the aim of the enemy craft was to bypass this first squadron. The solution to which was to engage them at range with the second, much larger wave of fighters. What the AI did not predict was the minute change in heading of the Zarasian fighters that saw them collide with the F-302's, miniature fireballs blossoming on impact that consumed both craft. The response from the AI's was immediate, with a wave of NPD's from multiple craft being launched at the transport craft, having been deemed the greater potential threat, but Red Eyes was once again one move ahead.

The surviving Zarasian fighters immediately moved to intercept those drones, screening the transport craft just long enough for it to overload its reactor. The blast wave itself was fairly limited, barely touching the edge of the swarm of 302's. The shockwave however was felt by all of them. Nearly two dozens fighters were destroyed as they collided with each other, while the rest frantically manoeuvred to remain airborne. They were then easy prey for the Zarasian fighters that descended on them, clearing the way for the transports they were escorting.

The score stood at one point in favour of Red Eyes.

* * *

**_Weir_**

"Son of a bitch," ISIS swore, much to the surprise of everyone present.

Sheppard couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Rodney, who could only shrug in response. Everyone who knew anything about the highly advanced AI knew that ISIS was capable of evolving, with her personality matrix expanding to become so close to sentience that it was impossible to tell the difference. But nevertheless this was the first time they had seen the avatar wearing a mask of anger, let alone swearing.

"Problem ISIS?" Sheppard asked.

"My sisters and I have been outmanoeuvred," ISIS replied with a frown. "A group of Zarasian transport craft has broken through the fighter screen surrounding the capital and is landing now."

"Numbers?" Sheppard asked sharply.

"Seventeen transports touching down, with two hundred and four fighters remaining outside the shield."

"Life signs?"

"None detected in the transports."

Rodney immediately started working at his console, bringing up the sensor readings for him to analyse personally.

"The transports are putting out large amounts of focused energy, most likely from a single piece of technology. The energy field is disrupting our scanning beams and preventing us from getting a precise lock."

Sheppard nodded. "So they could be empty…"

"…or full to the brim," Rodney finished.

"Send a priority one message to Thor and have him intercept those assets."

"Yes sir," a crewman replied.

"And have our units take down that damn shield already, that was supposed to be a primary objective," Sheppard ordered.

"Units are reporting heavy resistance around the transmitter pylons sir. The majority of Zarasian forces are concentrated around them but our own forces are beginning to push through. Two out of eight pylons are destroyed, with three more damaged. The shield is beginning to collapse."

Every second that they waited more troops could be deployed onto the battlefield. He just hoped that Thor and his titans were able to destroy the transports whole before too many troops were offloaded. And that was assuming there were actually troops in those transports.

* * *

Thor had to admit, he had missed this. In the good old days before the replicators the Asgard had been a race to be feared because of those like him. Those who would dispense swift justice against parasites like the Goa'uld. It was with a heavy heart that he had allowed the Protected Planets Treaty to even exist but he knew it had to be done. The replicators were far too dangerous a threat to allow any other course of action and if they hadn't focused on them races like the Tau'ri might never have discovered electricity before the lights of their lives were snuffed out. But even the fight against the replicators had not allowed him the outlet he needed, because against such a foe it was a constant series of raids and sneak attacks since drawn out combat was simply not an option.

His one respite had been when some Goa'uld was stupid enough to actually enter a protected system. Once that happened Thor would give a single warning, but not always, before unleashing the full force of the weapons at his disposal. But this, fighting in close quarters with his brothers and sisters at his side, was truly therapeutic. There was a reason that Norse mythology portrayed him and his kin as such fearsome beings, and it was not simply because of the powerful technology at their disposal. Standard practise for dealing with intruders on the surface of worlds under their protection was to capture them in a transport beam and then simply delete the stored patterns. It was swift, effective and utterly merciless. People who thought the Tau'ri were a fearsome enemy when roused had clearly never met a pissed off Asgard.

So there he was on the front lines of the battle for the Calium capital city carving through the enemy like a hot knife through butter, or if you wanted to be more accurate hot plasma through flesh and bone. Reapers littered the ground around him as he and two of his kin pounded through the dockyards, their heavy metallic feet creating small earthquakes with every single step they took.

Their current destination was the transport vessel that landed nearby only moments ago. The tactical alert from his allies above had been unnecessary since Thor had noticed them the moment they entered the borders of the shield surrounding the island. It had however allowed him to better position his forces by providing him with the exact locations of the transports for his titans to engage.

As he and his comrades came to a rest in front of the transport he saw that the large frontal doors were already beginning to open. The enemy would be most vulnerable however when the doors first opened and the cyborgs inside emerged, caught in the cramped interior with no cover to speak off except those in front of them. Standing in the middle of the trio, and with more armoured soldiers coming up behind him, Thor felt confident in his ability to defeat whatever was inside.

So he was very surprised when the doors opened and revealed nothing. Not single Zarasian cyborg was inside the darkened hollow interior of the transport. Inside his suit Thor blinked and considered the possibility that this might simply have been a distraction, or perhaps even an attempt to lure him and his forces closer so the craft could self destruct. And yet his suits sensors, coupled with the readings from ship based assets, were telling him that no overload was occurring. It was truly a mystery.

What he had not, could not, expect to happen though was the brief and faint flash of light deep from the interior of the craft. Suddenly from the gloom a behemoth that had not been there mere moments ago emerged, charging towards him at a frightening speed for its size. Thor had just enough time to identify the glowing red hot claws that came swiping at him before the full weight of the monstrous beast collided with his suit and sent him to the ground while a pair of hulks emerged behind it, weapons blazing.

* * *

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	86. Who's winning exactly?

Asgard do not let their darker emotions out for air much. Even Hermiod, who was known to mutter under his breath when he was annoyed, did so in a language no one understood. He had to be one of the few Asgard in history to actually learn Alteran so that he had something to curse in.

In contradiction to his normally calm state Thor was very unhappy with his current situation. At this moment in time he had a half ton behemoth on top of him, pressing his suit so far into the ground it was probably leaving an outline, and tearing out chunks of the armour. As a result every curse word he knew in Asgard, Earth English, Alteran, the odd word in Furling and even Nox, although admittedly those were more along the lines of darn than actual swear words, was passing through his mind.

However in this particular case he decided that for the sake of moral he would only voice the well used phrase of a very good friend.

"For crying out loud!"

Warning signs blared on his android body's heads up display, courtesy of his direct link to the suit. Those damn superheated claws, combined with its monstrous strength, were cutting through the armour like a hot knife through butter, and its sheer weight wasn't helping matters.

He was completely pinned under the things massive bulk and needed to free himself if he was going to have a chance. He needed to think. Being in an android body gave him quite a few advantages over an organic life form, with one of them being that he could think faster than an organic ever could. Combine that with millennia of combat experience and you had a fearsome combination. Focusing his attention, in the blink of an eye he ran through the data he was receiving directly and came up with a plan.

He was surrounded on all sides, with his companions having retreated against the sheer tide of enemies pouring out of the seemingly infinite confines of the transport craft. He didn't blame them, since common sense was not something he frowned upon.

Step one was to get his arms free and stop this beast from tearing his armour apart before it was rendered completely useless. Plasma beams and fireflies were not an option, not with the damn thing right on top of him, so that left him with arm mounts. Shockwaves would need to be precisely aimed to have the desired effect and his plasma storm cannons were stuck pointed in completely the wrong direction. Flamethrowers it was then. Pure plasma in excess of ten thousand degrees blasting into your side was not something that could be easily overlooked by any creature. The behemoth squirmed as its sides were cooked, giving Thor enough room to move his arms again. A good thing too, since the flames were beginning to have an effect on his own suits armour.

Step two saw him seizing the opportunity presented and reaching up to lock hands with the behemoth, preventing the creature from continuing to claw at him. The behemoth squeezed hard and thrashed about, attempting to free itself, and thankfully failing.

Step three was to weaken the things frighteningly strong grip, and took the form of a firefly being fired directly upwards. With the reaction engine in the rocket set to short burst it quickly cut out a little while after being launched, allowing gravity to assert its grip and bring it plummeting back to Calium and right onto the large back of the behemoth. The, relatively, small naquadah/potassium warhead detonated on impact with the behemoth's armoured hide, creating a rather impressive explosion.

The behemoth roared as the explosive force did a lot more than simply burn it. Thor could not see the pain in the creature's eyes since it did not have them, only cybernetic implants, but he could see the pain etched on its features and feel its grip weaken. Perfect. With a single push he was able to knock its arms back. Now with room to manoeuvre he slammed his hands into the behemoth's side and fired a full powered shockwave from the emitters in his palms. The blow was enough to knock the beast back. With step four out of the way step five was suddenly very urgently required if he wanted to survive the retaliatory strike in the form of a spiked, and very heavy, tail slamming down on his already damaged chest plate.

Firing the booster engines in his feet he was propelled backwards, narrowly avoiding the aforementioned tail and taking out the legs of a few hulks on his speedy trip back to his own lines, and brief bursts of fire from his plasma storm cannons and flame throwers brought a few more to their knees. A well timed burst from the shockwave emitters embedded in his suits palms pushed him upright and onto his feet again. As gravity regained its grip he skidded to a halt, coming to a stop just in front of his kindred, much to their entertainment. He had certainly put on quite a display.

Another advantage of temporarily not being organic meant they could process at much higher speeds than their old forms. Something which certainly came in handy in moments like these, since in battle a single second can be an eternity. To anyone who wasn't an Asgard or Vanir and happened to be listening in on the conversation it two sounded like gerbils on helium. As the two conversed time seemed to stop around them.

"Nicely done Supreme Commander," his second in command on the ground said in amusement.

"Thank you Ullr. Now what is our status?"

Ullr sighed. "It will be a hard fight. A very hard fight. The enemy is multiplying with every second. Those transport ships are continually spitting out hulks and behemoths. If we do not act fast then we will be looking at over a hundred hulks and nearly fifty behemoths. A number which does not seem possible given the size of the ships."

"You suspect that we are missing something."

"I know that we are missing something. There is some secret about those craft that is thus far unknown to us."

"Is it possible that they have developed a hypercube?"

Ullr had to consciously resist the urge to roll his eyes. Even in a situation like this Thor would still try to figure out the problem to overwhelm the enemy with minimum effort, even if the situation called for less thinking and a lot more action. Although he had to admit such a strategy was useful in the long run. Unfortunately the short term was staring right at him, and he didn't like the look it was giving him.

"I don't know Thor. I am no scientist and neither are you. However that does not matter at this point, we need to deal with this threat and that means taking out those transport craft before more of those behemoths turn up and we get civilian casualties."

"Unfortunately you are correct in this case. However it would be nice to know if they have that kind of technology."

"If it helps old friend I sincerely doubt that they do. In my experience an enemy such as this with that kind of technology would not be so lacking in other areas. Can you imagine the possibilities for such technology? I can but only just, and quite frankly they scare me. However my biggest concern at the moment is the enemy right in front of me."

"Point taken," Thor admitted.

"Thank you. Now what is your order Supreme Commander?"

"How does fire at will sound?" Thor suggested.

Ullr couldn't help but crack a smile. "Sounds like my kind of plan."

With the end of their conversation time seemed to speed up and return to normal once again. Not necessarily the best thing if it means the bullets are coming at you a lot faster than they seemed to be a moment ago.

Thankfully the tide of behemoths seemed to have been cut at the source. Wherever the demonic creatures were coming from they seemed to have run out, although there was no sign of the tide of hulks stopping anytime soon. Annoyingly the behemoths seemed content to smash their way through any defensive line the Titans formed, and more often than not simply refused to die before they broke through, no matter how many plasma rounds were emptied into them. If anything this convinced Thor that Ullr had the right idea and they stop thinking and start bringing in more firepower. After all it wasn't like they didn't have the technology to simply restore the dockyards later on. Still there was probably an issue with doing a lot more damage in liberating a city than the actual invaders had while taking it.

What concerned Thor the most though was where the behemoths had gone after they broke through their lines. Most likely to harass the Tau'ri troops fighting their way through the city, rescuing isolated civilians and dealing with pockets of resistance, or reapers as they were more commonly known. And if the sudden flash of light and crackling plasma field above their heads was any indication they had even reached the towers generating the shield surrounding the floating island.

Unfortunately the lack of shield was too little, too late. The field of battle had changed to the point where the Titans and hulks were practically locked in mortal combat amongst the dockyard buildings and equipment, thanks to the charge of behemoths shattering their lines. They could no longer attack the docks with air support or artillery, not without risking their own hides, and orbital bombardment was entirely out of the question. Admittedly there would be no loss of life if they were to temporarily die, but they would lose the bulk of their deployed forces. And if their inability to establish a beam lock outside of the range of a transport pillar was anything to go by the Zarasians apparently still had a transport inhibitor active, which meant simply beaming the enemy away was out of the question as well.

Thor could remember a time when transport beams swept away entire armies with ease. Now it seemed that every enemy they encountered in this pocket sized galaxy had an answer to them. It was infuriating to say the least.

"Ullr, we need to finish this fight now," Thor stated. He back handed a nearby hulk and finished it with a blast from his hellstorm cannon.

Beside him Ullr fired off a shockwave that stopped a charging hulk dead in its track before following up with a second that knocked it off its feet. "I'm open to suggestions Supreme Commander."

"All units prepare to hunker down and launch firefly's skywards on my mark," Thor ordered.

"Are you insane?!"

"The shields can take it."

"Yours can maybe."

"All units, fire."

"I am not having a good day!" Ullr complained loudly, before carrying out the order.

Hundreds of firefly rockets were fired from twin pods on the shoulders of the gathered Titans. Across the entire dockyards in a ring around the island tiny specks of light could be seen from the miniature propulsion systems that pushed them upwards. Then as quickly as they rose gravity once again took hold of them and brought them spiralling down back again. Designed to detonate only impact the miniature warheads didn't detonate even after their short lived propulsion died. Though on their own they weren't that powerful when launched in the hundreds they were fearsome and when they did touch down the entire dockyards was consumed by fire as the naquadah/potassium warheads exploded violently.

The scene was one that played out across the entire perimeter of the capital city. As the smoke finally cleared it revealed the smoking hull of the Zarasian transport, along with the rubble and twisted metal that represented the remains of the dockyards. From under the debris Titan clad fighters slowly pushed their way out of their would be graves, covered in a fine coat of dust and their armour battered and marked. Not one single hulk had survived the explosion and subsequent collapse of the dockyard structures.

If the Titans hadn't crouched down and retracted their shields to cover them when they did they wouldn't be here. Unfortunately their shields weren't designed to protect them from the mass of rock and metal that came down on their heads, which had left their armour in its currently far from pristine state.

"Sound off," Thor ordered and received a lot of grumbled responses but nothing from Ullr. "Ullr, are you alive?"

"I'm still deciding on that." Thor resisted the urge to sigh as Ullr continued. "In this android body I do not need to eat, rest nor can I procreate. Can I, or any of us for that matter, be considered alive? Can a being who does fear death to the point that he will order his own people to effectively shoot themselves really be called alive?"

With the rather pointed monologue now over Thor noticed a patch of rubble shift as a Titan that looked a lot worse for wear clambered to its feet.

"If you can complain then yes. I realise you do not approve that your current existence was put in peril but it was necessary."

"Supreme Commander I have no problem with putting my current existence as you so eloquently put it in peril. There are certainly much worse ways to die than fighting to protect your brothers and sisters from an enemy who would do them harm. However I do not like potentially being the one responsible for their deaths because their minds did not download."

"I know old friend and I'm sorry about that, but none of our brethren have been lost this day. And if any had it would be on my conscience, not yours." It was true that several had been forced to download but none had permanently died. Those unfortunate enough to have their bodies destroyed were probably even now being transferred into new bodies, or were sitting comfortably in an Asgard data repository.

"Alright fine, I'm sorry. Now then I have just one question."

"And what is that?"

"Where have those damn behemoths gotten to?"

Thor realised Ullr had a point. The behemoths had not only avoided the potentially suicidal bombardment of the docks, but had vanished from the immediate area entirely. One moment they had been tearing through the lines of Titans and the next they had moved on for some other purpose. It was strange to say the least.

"I am not sure brother, but I intend to find out."

* * *

Both Asgardians gazes were drawn upwards as a small fireball bloomed in the sky above them. Due to the intensity of the fire fight and the fact that they had been focused on the hulks in front of them they had failed to notice the raging battle in the skies above them. Zarasian fighters and Tau'ri UAV's were locked in combat. Both types of aircraft were extremely manoeuvrable, and what the Zarasian craft lacked in firepower they made up for in sheer toughness. It certainly didn't help that the UAV's had only so much ammo available to them. While their railgun stores weren't going to run low anytime soon the same could not be said for their missiles and rockets, a fact that would need to be dealt with at some point in the future for the sake of prolonged engagements against superior numbers.

If anyone happened to glance at an ISIS avatar at the moment they would see her face was a mixture of concentration and annoyance as she engaged in a battle of wits against an unknown adversary. It didn't require much processing power to monitor the battle and undoubtedly her opponent only had access to so much given the nature of Zarasian technology. Logic dictated that her opponent had access to a vast library of combat engagement tactics, unlike her. It was the only way to account for the fact that the most advanced artificial intelligence in four galaxies was having to dedicate most of her run time to coming up with suitable counter manoeuvres. Each enemy fighter engaged her own with a different approach and yet in a co-ordinated manner. She was forced to make up engagement tactics on the fly, in the nanoseconds before it was too late, while her opponent simply had to pick and choose from a list. It was almost infuriating. Ah who was she kidding, she was annoyed. And as another of her birds was shot down, this one with a still practically full missile compliment, before she could devise a survival strategy for it, she officially graduated to being pissed off.

Nevertheless she would not be beaten so easily. Combined she and her duplicates had enough raw processing power to shatter the most advanced man made firewall on Earth with nothing more than a brute force attack, a feat no Earth designed computer could acclaim to. She may not have played this game before but she knew the rules and she was learning tactics very fast.

"Game on Zarasian," she whispered. "Game on."

* * *

Thor pulled a particularly large lump of rubble off a particularly unlucky Asgardian. Against all odds the Asgardian in question was actually perfectly fine. Even the Titan battlesuit she was clad in was perfectly functional, a testament to the high quality of its engineering or that said Asgardian was the luckiest bugger who ever lived.

As the final pieces of rubble were removed and the hunched over figure was revealed Thor realized that it was in fact neither. Skade had just known when to make herself small and divert all available power to shields. With the final major obstruction removed Skade unfurled herself and rose to a standing position.

"Intact?" Thor asked.

"Yes the suit is intact and I am fine as well," Skade deadpanned.

She surveyed her brethren, her battered and dusty brethren.

"You know," she mused. "I am glad that cleaning these suits is not a requirement for their function because I know I would have been told to clean my own by the maintenance teams."

Thor might have been inclined to laugh, if his race ever did so, but instead he allowed himself a small twitch of his lips that indicated a smile.

Skade took in the destruction from the firefly rockets. The shattered buildings, the wrecked equipment, the bloody and broken hulks and reapers, and of course the wrecked forms of Titan battlesuits. Several of their own had fallen to the deadly assault, and this was an example of the wanton destruction caused by the smallest ballistic weapon the Tau'ri had in their arsenal.

She gasped. "All this destruction, and from such a small weapon."

"Impressive isn't it."

"Impressive and terrifying."

"Be grateful that we weren't armed with NPD's. They possess a much larger yield than the weapons we just used. Isn't it amazing what these humans can come up with?"

"The Tau'ri are very dangerous."

Thor turned to walk towards the city whilst silently agreeing with Skade. The Tau'ri were very dangerous, but only to their enemies. A fact he was sometimes very grateful for but more often one he admired. The Tau'ri were much like the Asgard in that respect. Despite how much they claimed to be a peaceful race the Asgard had been able to bluff the Goa'uld for a long time because they were feared, because they would not hesitate to use what could be considered excessive force against those that crossed them. Generous to their friends and viscous to their enemies.

"That is what she said."

"Pardon?" Skade asked, slightly confused, as she hurriedly fell into step with Thor.

"Travell."

"The former Tollan leader?"

"Yes, I had an interesting conversation with her a while ago, courtesy of Freyr."

"We have time, do tell."

Thor had been on his scheduled downtime, relaxing in his private office on Concordia, when the message from Freyr had through. Thor was well of the fact that his fellow Asgardian had been constantly under siege by the former Tollan chancellor known as Travell in regards to the Tau'ri situation as she referred to it. Her relentlessness in this matter was almost admirable, or it would have been if it wasn't so futile. Apparently though she had taken to trying a different tactic as of late, and was trying to prove to the Asgard that the Tollan were in fact worthy of Asgard generosity. Clearly she had realized that nothing short of turning back time would bring the Tau'ri down to a more acceptable technological level, at least in her mind, and was instead trying to bridge the gap. Freyr had politely informed her that it was above his station and had decided to kick the matter upstairs, as the Tau'ri would say, and it had landed right on his desk, which was why he now had a meeting with Ms Travell.

He strongly suspected that Freyr had decided to get a little revenge against Travell by giving him specifically the task of explaining the situation to her. Anyone who knew him would know exactly how this conversation was going to go if Travell decided to take a pot shot at the Tau'ri.

When she entered his office he noticed Travell's eyes widened significantly right before she stopped in her tracks. He wasn't surprised at her shock, the only Asgard she had seen before had been occupying the strictly non-combat android bodies, which bore a much greater resemblance to the one he was currently using.

With a wave of his hand the holographic display in front of him vanished, providing her with an even clearer view of his terrifying appearance.

"You'll have to forgive my somewhat sinister appearance Ms Travell. My duties require the use of this combat form as opposed to the body you are used to. I trust you understand." He must seem like some demonic creature to her, a nightmare given flesh.

Travell nodded mutely before regaining her composure and taking her seat.

"Allow me to introduce myself Ms Travell," Thor continued. "I am Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard fleet. Freyr informs me that you wish to discuss a technological exchange between our peoples."

Thor studied her reaction his introduction with interest. He knew for a fact that Travell had not been told who specifically she would be talking to but had received sufficient cultural information about his people to know exactly who the major players were. He also knew, thanks to Freyr, that she knew about his personal history with the Tau'ri. This should be entertaining to say the least.

"Thank you Commander…" Travell began before Thor interrupted her by raising a single clawed finger. An act that caused a slight amount of fear by itself.

"Supreme Commander, Ms Travell."

"My apologies, Supreme Commander. As I was saying this is an impressive structure you have built here."

"You can thank the Tau'ri for the arcology," Thor replied curtly. "It was their design that made it possible, while the Asgard merely sped up its construction. The Nox are quite pleased with how well it integrates with the surrounding environment."

The name drop did not go unnoticed by Travell, who nevertheless rallied magnificently.

"They have certainly come far with your assistance," Travell said politely.

"On the contrary my people's technology only slightly upgraded the structure. The original design plan is perfectly functional without the technology we have gifted them integrated to it."

That brought Travell up short, even at their civilisations height the Tollan had never dreamed of building structures such as this. A million people occupying such a relatively small piece of land, it was almost unthinkable. Then again Thor had actually chosen to do the math before he would actually believe it, but no it was indeed a million people in a space you park a pair of warships. Where did the humans get these ideas from?

"I'm given to understand that this world now holds the majority of the inhabitants of this galaxy," Travell continued. "A prudent measure I'm sure given the threat you face. However I notice that this structure is significantly larger than the others."

Clearly Travell was fishing for information, not being aware of all the facts about matters occurring in another galaxy. And why should she? It wasn't like the alliance publically advertised what they were doing and the Tollan were rather isolated.

"The other structures do indeed hold the less developed humans of this galaxy," Thor acknowledged. "However this one serves a different purpose, being the Pegasus galaxy headquarters for the Alliance of Great Races."

"And who might I ask count themselves as members of this alliance?" Travell asked although she probably had a sneaking suspicion she could already guess more than one.

Freyr had been very devious with the information packets he provided the Tollan with. While he had included information about the major players on the galactic board he had neglected to include any information about the intergalactic alliance fighting against the Zarasian menace. She was about to get a rude awakening. It was only a matter of when she reached her breaking point.

"The Tau'ri, Asgard, Nox." She didn't seem surprised by that. "The Averians and Wraith." That got a raised eyebrow but not outright shock. The two of them were notably powerful races in their own right, certainly technologically. The Wraith had toppled the gate builders and the Averians had been entrusted with their legacy in order to avenge their defeat. "The Hebridians." That lowered the eyebrow. They were a Milky Way industrial powerhouse after all. "The Liberum, Jaffa and the Travellers."

"What!" Travell practically yelled.

Thor couldn't say he was surprised by this reaction.

"Is something the matter?" he asked innocently.

"I…no nothing Commander…I mean Supreme Commander. It's just…how do the Tollan go about joining this alliance?"

"You don't."

"Excuse me?!"

"To join the alliance you must first be invited to join and since we do not plan on inviting you anytime soon you will not be joining."

"I don't understand," Travell spluttered. "Why not? The Tollan have achieved much. We are a powerful race."

Thor raised a single finger. "Were."

"What?" Travell asked indignantly.

"The Tollan were a powerful race. Now you are largely dependent on the kindness of others, and owe your current well being to a race you would have betrayed."

"That is not true."

Thor's response would have sent shivers down the spine of the most sadistic response. "Yes Ms Travell it is. If not for the Tau'ri coming to your rescue your people would still be at the industrial level that you were during the stone age. You owe everything you currently possess to them and their generosity."

"How can you consider all of them to be great races? The Jaffa are barely able to maintain the technology they acquired from the Goa'uld, let alone understand it, and the same can be said for the Liberum. As for the Travellers they have little to no infrastructure to speak of and would probably have gone extinct within a few decades. The Tau'ri were bad enough but you consider them to be great races, why?"

Thor just let this tirade wash over him until Travell finally ran out of steam.

"The Jaffa have chosen to become the protectors of the majority of an entire galaxy, an ambitious task. They are also not afraid to ask for help and are willing to make the changes they need to in order to stand on their own and the same can be said for the Liberum," Thor added, echoing Travell's earlier words. "As for the Travellers, they did the impossible. Developed to the space age and survived in a galaxy without any actual means to combat their foes directly and even then when the time came they were willing to take on a galactic menace without hesitation."

"Is that a slight against my people Supreme Commander?" Travell asked viscously.

"It is merely the truth. You can only take slight if your people have done something wrong in the past. Perhaps your choice to not actively engage the Goa'uld while you had the chance is weighing on your mind."

"We survived and in time would have risen again," Travell stubbornly stated.

"Not in your life time Ms Travell and certainly not for several generations at best. In which case you would be at the mercy of any who might come across you."

"Then I count myself lucky that your people were watching over us. The Tau'ri would probably have taken our knowledge for their own if it wasn't for you watching over their shoulder."

Thor fixed her with a deep, penetrating stare as he steepled his fingers, composing himself before he responded. Travell shifted uncomfortably in her seat as the Asgardians dark eyes bored into her.

"Do I look a Nox to you?" Thor asked, catching Travell completely off guard.

"I…um…no."

"That is because I am not. I am a member of the Asgard and we do not take betrayal lightly. If it had been my world you had chosen to try to send a bomb through the stargate to then you would not have to worry about a Goa'uld Ha'tak bombarding your city."

"I don't understand…the Asgard are a peaceful race."

"No, clearly you do not understand. The Asgard do not start fights but we are by no means obligated to sit back and let such a betrayal slide. There is a reason, Ms Travell, that the Asgard were so feared by the Goa'uld that they chose to steer clear of the worlds under our protection.

"If a Goa'uld ship even entered the system we would destroy it. If their armies travelled to that world by the stargate they would be immediately transported away and placed in a storage buffer. Do you know what we would do next?" Travell was silent. "We would purge the buffer and those contained within would simply cease to exist. I can assure you that a similar fate would have awaited you and your Curia if you had managed to send that weapon through to Earth."

Thor let his words sink in before continuing.

"You wonder why we support Earth, because we see their courage and their honour. They are willing to protect the defenceless and ask for nothing in return besides friendship and acknowledgement, a small price to pay. And in many ways we see how much more merciful than us they are. If it weren't for the replicators the Asgard would have gathered our forces and annihilated the Goa'uld and their Jaffa servants from existence there and then. We would have ended the Goa'uld before the thought of rebellion could even the minds of the Jaffa and we certainly would not have aided it. The Tau'ri however saw that the Jaffa were just as much slaves as the humans they ruled over, something we unfortunately did not.

"Make no mistake Ms Travell the Tau'ri may be an aggressive people who will put their whole being into bringing down, but not necessarily annihilating, their enemies but the Asgard are far less kind when angered."

"But they are not united like your own people are," Travell argued. "Do you not fear they might self destruct with the advances in weapons technology you have given them?"

"Are you really that much of a fool?" Thor asked incredulously. "Any species that knows of atomic power can readily self destruct. I know for a fact that decades before they were even aware of the existence of other races that the Tau'ri possessed enough nuclear weaponry to annihilate all life on their world several times over with the push of a button. The only thing our advanced technology offers them is the ability to do so at a slightly faster rate."

Travell suddenly could not meet the Asgardians gaze. He was right. He was undeniably right. Once a race knew how to split the atom they were already presented with the danger of self annihilation. In all honesty it didn't even really require nuclear weaponry, with enough bombs of a sufficient explosive force you could damage a planet enough to ensure your own demise. She had humiliated herself.

"Now onto the matter that brought you here," Thor continued. "I believe your interest was in technology that could be used for defensive purposes, since you are well aware of the fact that we will not be providing you with beaming technology."

"Yes."

"Very well then. The Asgard would be willing to provide you with enough surface to orbit plasma cannons to defend your world, including the design specifications for them, as well as a defensive shield to protect your settlement. If you prefer however we can provide you modifications to your ion cannons to make them effective defensive weapons once again." As Thor holographic examples of the devices he spoke of appeared in front of him. "Which would you prefer?"

The last item certainly grabbed Travell's attention. "You can allow our ion cannons to penetrate shields again, how?"

Thor shook his head. "No, that is not possible. Not against ships with sufficiently effective shields at least."

"I don't understand. Why would shield effectiveness make a difference in this matter?"

"Because of the nature of how your cannons work. Given Asgard understanding of such weaponry the reason you have been able to bypass shields thus far is because the shield matrix of a typical Goa'uld Ha'tak was not sufficient to block such a loose collection of ions without letting some of them through. As a result it appeared that shields were useless against them. However when Anubis enhanced his vessels the shield matrix was dense enough to completely block the ion bolts and thus the weapons were rendered completely useless. It is fortunate for you that the Goa'uld valued one of their flagships too much to risk attacking your world with it or you would have met your demise much sooner. The solution to your problem is to adjust the density of the ion bolts thus making them powerful enough to affect the shield matrix without simply scattering upon impact."

Travell was stunned. Thor had just casually dissected one of her people's greatest accomplishments in a matter of moments, this was unprecedented. "How do you know this?"

"The Asgard also use ion based weaponry, however we were not simply content to accept that our weapons were unbeatable and looked for a way to defend ourselves against should it prove necessary. A course of action that turned out to be very prudent given the nature of the enemy we ended up facing."

"What would you want in return for this?"

"Your phase shift technology." Travell's eyes held a glimmer of hope, right up until Thor added, "The latest version."

"You ask a steep price."

"And you ask for a luxury you do not need. It is only your pride at not needing the help of race you consider beneath you that brings you here today. The question is, how much is your pride worth to you?"

* * *

Not all the Titans had been dispatched to the docks, several lone suits were roaming through the city, having been deployed by the Tau'ri transport pillar and were providing support where it was needed.

One particular suit was plodding through the streets in search of lone packs of reapers that might still be running around as well as marking any pockets of civilians that needed to be removed from the battlefield. Currently in the warehouse district the lone Asgardian by the name of Vili was beginning to get rather bored by his lack of discovery. The Tau'ri forces, being small, stealthy and more manoeuvrable were having better luck. He strongly suspected that the reapers were running away from him at the sound of his approach.

Suddenly his sensors detected the approach of a life sign, but only when it was almost on top of him. The wall of the warehouse next to him erupted as the full weight of a heavier than normal hulk smashed into his side, knocking him to the ground.

Red Eyes quickly got to his feet and studied his opponent. The sensor scattering implant had effectively masked his approach, now it was time to take advantage of that fact.

Identifying target. Target identified.

He quickly engaged his adversary in close combat to maintain the advantage and prevent the use of the Titan's powerful ranged weaponry.

Scanning target. Scan complete.

With his enhanced physiology Red Eyes was able to exchange blow after blow without having his bones shattered or his organs ruptured. Punches were blocked and exchanged evenly as the two danced around each other, buying him time. Which was exactly what he needed to win.

Identifying weak points. Weak points indentified.

He had the information he needed to win now he simply needed to exploit it.

Targeting weak points. Weak points targeted.

Ducking under a left hook Red Eyes spun around behind the Titan, his heated blade slide out of his wrist mount as he moved. In one perfect movement the blade pierced through the rear armour plating of the Titan.

Inside the metallic Vili stared in horror at the blade sticking out of his chest. His mind went blank as the damage inflicted triggered an automatic neural download and his body slumped in its seat. The Titan dropped to the floor, its operator no longer present.

Red Eyes retracted his glowing blade, the heat of the weapon vaporising the mechanical fluids spewing from the Asgard's lifeless body. Without even a backwards glance Red Eyes walked away in pursuit of new prey. With every step he took the information he gathered during his short lived fight against the Titan was being uploaded to his brethren. Soon they would all know the opponents weapons, strengths, weaknesses and, most importantly, how to kill them with a single blow.

The tide of battle was about to change.


	87. Prison Break

Throughout the city Reapers and hulks momentarily froze as they received the data packet from Red Eyes after his engagement with the Asgardian. Inside the packet were data tags for the Titan battlesuits, notably their main weak spots and a recommended engagement strategy. Knowledge of your enemy's weak spots is only a benefit if you are in a position to exploit them. Without the ability to survive the initial engagement with the Titans not one reaper or hulk would be able to target those weak spots. Knowing this Red Eyes had prolonged the fight as long as possible without compromising his own survival chances in order to test what manoeuvres were viable options given the Titan's capabilities.

Ironically the most viable engagement strategy he had been able to determine from the skirmish was the most obvious one, get in close and get in behind them. Hide in the enemies blind spot, get in where they can't defend themselves, and go for the head. The head in this case being the Asgard pilot inside the suit.

Though the allies weren't aware that one of their most powerful land based weapons had just been severely diminished in terms of overall effectiveness there was a silver lining to this particular cloud. Unlike the hulks and the reapers the behemoths hadn't received the full data packet. Relying on an animal brain boosted by cybernetic enhancements, instead of a humanoid brain with cybernetic additions, the behemoths couldn't benefit from an engagement strategy. Their reactions were dictated purely by an enemy/friend identification system, engaging the enemy in a fashion that purely instinctual. Just tagging weak spots on the Titans for the behemoths to target was arguably pushing it.

If the behemoths ever manifested sentience then the allies really were going to be in for a hard fight on the ground, and they already had a hard enough time when the behemoths were just dumb attack dogs.

Earlier in the battle Ullr had asked an important question, namely where had the behemoths gotten too? After the initial skirmish in the docks as the hordes of enemy infantry, with the category being pushed to bursting point to include the living tanks that were behemoths, the behemoths had largely bypassed the defensive wall of Titans and disappeared amongst the twisting streets and back alleys of the Calium capital city. While Thor's group had not had the chance, having been besieged by the largest number of enemy forces and being forced to resort to desperate measures, other groups had fared much better and had actually had the chance to review the sensor data gathered during the battle, namely the life signs count. Pooling their data and physically counting the bodies on the ground they were able to determine that a number of hulks had slipped them by along with the behemoths. With a significant concentration of enemy forces having been directed against Thor's group and the consequent demolition of the docks there was no way to immediately tell just how many hulks, if any had actually made it past them. With the jamming device, or for all the allies knew devices, scrambling their ability to get accurate life sign readings at anything other than close range by effectively masking the signals that would normally be looked for they would have to physically search the city for the enemy.

Information is the key to winning any battle. Knowing your enemy, their strengths, their weaknesses, their capabilities, their positions and their numbers can make the difference between victory and defeat. But, unlike the allies, Red Eyes did know how many opponents he faced thanks to his telepathic and technological connection to his forces, and he knew their location as well. This gave him a decisive advantage over his opponents in this battle of wits.

The board was set, the pieces were moving into position and the game had only just begun.

* * *

**Zarasian Outpost**

Earth is a planet known for its architectural marvels, but an architectural marvel can take many forms. A building designed to perfectly fulfil its function beyond any other could be considered a marvel so perhaps some of Earths most secure maximum security prisons could be considered marvels by some. In which case perhaps the prison, which held the former inhabitants of worlds the Zarasians had silently conquered in the past few years, could also be considered a marvel.

Say what you will about the Zarasians but their militaristic precision when it came to architecture meant what they designed would work with incredible efficiency, which boiled down to the fact that any prison they built that was intended to make sure the prisoners stayed under lock and key was going to be damn good at doing just that.

When Vejovis had set his plans into motion for the extermination of the Wraith all those years ago he had not accounted for the guaranteed pain in the ass that the Tau'ri would prove to be. In just a few short years these people had defeated the Wraith by getting the Wraith to turn against their own genetics, targeting the infection itself. It was almost poetic. But, if anything, all that did was to make things a bit more difficult for Vejovis in the long run, or rather create the possibility for a long run. It didn't matter if the Zarasians conquered a few back water worlds that could be considered strategically important, since they could be seen as the bad guys if necessary. By keeping his children in the shadows they could become the liberators of the galaxy when the Zarasians conquered it. Zarin and his kind would bow before them when they finally emerged and the humans of the galaxy would worship as gods. After all, what else do you call the race that created you?

The ancestors would return and a new age would dawn. So it didn't matter if a few worlds were conquered and their populations imprisoned, they could be released later on. Or if no one knew about them they could be disposed of and wipe the slate wiped clean. The point was that the prisoners should not escape until they were needed, which is where this particular prison came into play. The most advanced prison possible short of storing the prisoner as data and sticking the data crystal inside a fortress, but still pretty good considering what the Zarasians had to work with.

There is one small flaw constant is most prisons however, that they are designed to stop people breaking out and while they are meant to be very good at this they tend to be a lot more susceptible to people breaking in. Of course this isn't usually a problem when the prison located in the heart of a Zarasian controlled outpost, protected by a fleet and numerous surface weapon emplacements. It is however a problem when said fleet has been reduced to an orbiting debris field and the rest of the outpost is burning ruin, with the latter being courtesy of weapons fire from the flying fortress currently hovering over said prison.

The sizeable number of able bodied, armoured and heavily armed Tau'ri soldiers who were now mere moments away from breaching the walls of said facility was a testament to this fact. To say the area around the prison complex was swarming with soldiers wasn't an exaggeration. One might almost think that the Tau'ri were trying to send a message. If one even looked closely enough one might even notice the odd Asgardian dispersed amongst the teams lining the walls.

One such team was being led by Colonel Dixon, who happened to have been placed in overall command of the operation. This same team also featured a Pegasus veteran, namely one newly promoted Captain Laura Cadman who just happened to have been charged with creating their point of entry.

"You know you'd be surprised how many applications there are for explosives," she proudly stated, while sticking what appeared to be a very liberal amount of plastic explosives in a rectangular shape to the prison wall.

"I'm really hoping that one of those includes making a door," Dixon replied, his voice somewhat on edge.

"Good things come to those who wait, sir."

"I'll keep that in mind Captain."

He really did not like being stuck between the prisons high walls and the inferno that represented the remains of the outpost. Sure they had thus far been able to keep the walls clear of enemy troops so there was no danger of being shot at, with the still smoking piles of rubble that had once been watchtowers filled with living reapers being a guarantee of that, but he still didn't like it. His suit's sensors were telling him that there were a lot of reapers waiting in that prison, among others. He would feel a heck of a lot better if he could be shooting at those reapers sometime soon.

Laura continued playing with her explosives before she finally popped the question that had been on her mind for a while. "Sir, is it really true you find this job relaxing?"

Dixon nearly laughed. "You got kids Captain?"

"No sir."

"Well I do. Four of them as it happens, and believe me Captain I love each of the little rascals to bits but, and I stress the but here, put them and you in the same room for ten minutes and your brain comes out extra crispy. In a way it you versus them, much like it's us versus those guys on the other side of this wall and this opposition I know exactly how to deal with. So yes Captain I do find this damn relaxing. There is something reassuring about that knowing that the opposition does actually have ill will towards you."

Cadman thought this over for a minute as she placed the final detonator. "Fair point sir. Oh the answer to your earlier hope was yes." She stepped away from the wall and pressed a button on her gauntlet, causing several shaped charges, followed by the aforementioned plastique, to detonate. The wall, substantially weakened by the initial charges collapsed from the force of the secondaries and suddenly the wall had a new door. "It does include making a door."

Dixon grinned inside his helmet. "All units move in."

At the same time as their entrance had been created more than a dozen others had been created at other points around the facility. The apparently excessive number was necessary given the sheer size of the complex. To anyone watching it seemed that the allies were storming the castle as they poured through the holes they had made, and there were people watching. The allies had easily detected the communication signals coming to and from the facility and though they couldn't decipher them they could make presumptions. Given his past behaviour Zarin seemed to like to observe the battles as they took place, and would sacrifice his assets if it meant taking the enemy with in him in an otherwise losing battle. So they opted to jam all communications coming in and out of the immediate area and simply duplicating the outgoing ones. This way Zarin would see his demise in real time but wouldn't be able to order a self destruct now that things had gone south. A fact that was very comforting to those participating in this prison break, although perhaps prison bust would be more accurate.

The initial breach into the compound was not done with any amount of restraint. Sensors had told them that there were only reapers outside of the buildings, which had thick walls and no windows, so they were free to use their railgun rifles without having to worry about collateral damage. The railgun rifle was truly a masterpiece of destruction, with an effective range measured in kilometres and the likelihood of killing the person standing behind your target it was the most lethal kinetic projectile based rifle in known existence. Lethal didn't even begin to cover it.

Most of the Reapers on the inside of the compound had been disorientated by the blast and those that weren't had their own troops in front of them, which made firing at the enemy pouring through the massive holes that had suddenly appeared in the walls. Reapers were cut down in droves as high velocity trinium tipped slugs sliced through them like a hot knife through butter.

Less than a minute of intense firepower later and the all clear signal was given. It was almost strangely quiet within the prison walls. There were no alarms blaring, but that just meant they weren't for human ears. The Reapers communicated without spoken words so why would humans, or even Asgard, ears hear alarm bells ringing. At the moment there was no one left alive to remain any alarms. The Reapers had been truly and utterly overwhelmed, with no casualties on the allied side. Moving with speed and precision the teams split up and moved towards their assigned buildings. Explosive specialists lined the doors with breaching charges, which were subsequently detonated. Before the smoke could even clear soldiers were through the door, railgun rifles shouldered and particle magnums in hand and, for safety, set to stun. They didn't want to stumble on a congregational area and end up accidently killing one of the prisoners they were here to liberate in the ensuing confusion. That certainly wouldn't look good in the debriefing.

The moment they were in and through the door, that was when the trouble started. The Zarasians could have written the book on lockdowns. Trinium doors slammed shut automatically, with no override mechanisms that could be accessed, and sentry turrets activated the moment a non recognised entity stepped into the corridor. The soldiers were forced to duck and roll the moment they entered the initial corridor, three turrets on rails embedded in the ceiling had roared into life in a hailstorm of plasma bolts. There was no warning offered for those who had been deemed to be a threat from the beginning.

A quick switch to the higher of the two lethal settings and the shooting started. Energy bolts and plasma were exchanged in heavy doses but numbers won the day and smoking, blackened pieces of the shattered turrets clattered to the floor. Unfortunately their troubles hadn't ended with just three turrets. The rails set into the ceiling disappeared into open conduits in the walls, out of which three more turrets emerged at high speed to replace those that had been destroyed. The broken remains of the three turrets instantly dropped from the ceiling as though a switch had been flipped and some invisible force holding them in place had been lifted. One particularly unfortunate soldier was floored as a turret dropped on his head. Thankfully his armour saved him from getting so much as a concussion, but without it the end result would have been a broken neck. Instead he was simply knocked unconscious and would wake up at the end of the battle in the infirmary seeing stars, much to his fellow soldier's amusement.

A brief fire fight later and three more turrets clattered to the ground in pieces. This time though Dixon and his squad didn't stop firing, instead specifically targeting the rails at the conduit openings before the next set of turrets could emerge. A series of precise shots warped the rails enough to stop the next set of turrets from fully emerging from the conduits, with the small angle preventing them from attaining a firing solution unless they wanted to shoot at each other. Even with the immediate threat neutralised the men and women of this outfit were trained professionals, and weren't about to simply overlook the potential threat the turrets could pose in the near future. With three precise shots the turrets were disabled and any threat they could offer was gone.

Waving his hand Colonel Dixon gave the all clear signal and he and his squad poured into the prison complex. Communicating with the rest of the teams at the numerous entry points he confirmed that they had also encountered the turrets but had successfully disabled them, with several injured but, thankfully, no fatalities. He knew it was likely that that could change before this mission was over and done with and that the soldiers under his command could be looking at some serious injuries if the defences in this building were anything to go by.

They lined the doors with a low powered, yet effective, thermal explosive designed to cut through blast doors such as this one with startling ease. With the push of a button the detonation charge burned through the thick trinium and the doors clattered to the floor, leaving a gaping hole for them to walk through two by two. As the teams advanced deeper into the complex teams broke off to further explore the interior.

Only a few strides in though and they encountered yet another sealed door. Cadman rolled her eyes at Dixon as she pulled out another reel of explosives. He understood the unspoken message and was already receiving reports from the other teams stating that they too had found their paths blocked almost immediately after breaching their assigned buildings. They were going to need a lot more explosives or maybe even some cutting gear. Explosives though were probably the better option in this case, at least time wise. He did not want to spend anymore time in this place than he needed to. They couldn't say for sure that the Zarasians didn't have something up their sleeve, and given Zarin's previous form thus far it was likely to be something nasty.

"I'm ordering you some more explosives Captain," he said as he took a few steps back from the door, with his magnum at the ready.

"Very much appreciated sir," Cadman replied as she pressed the detonation button.

Another door, another corridor and another turret to be shot before it shot them. Just a standard day on the job for the men and women of Homeworld Command. It wasn't until the next door along that they actually encountered something besides a turret. A lone reaper was waiting for them. Unfortunately for the poor thing the short range sensors built into their tempest battle armour had tagged it the moment it came in range and a hail storm of energy bolts tore into it before the Zarasian cyborg could even get a shot off.

Searching through the various rooms, they discovered a surprising lack of prisoners. Those few rooms that did actually have something in them were filled with crates containing, thankfully, inactive strings. A tactical decision was made and a single grenade containing a microscopic particle of naquadah and potassium rendered the potential threat neutralised.

As they progressed deeper into the facility they came into contact with a number of other teams approaching from different directions. Coupled with the fact that they had encountered a few reapers, a lot of turrets, numerous empty rooms, but no prisoners and Pierce started to get suspicious. When he started to receive reports that teams were meeting together in the middle of their assigned buildings that he started to put two and two together.

"_Borealis_ this is Colonel Pierce, come in _Borealis_," Pierce said into his comm.

Colonel Paul Davis himself answered, "Colonel Pierce this is _Borealis_, we read you loud and clear. What's up?"

"I need a full scan of this facility. Please confirm human life sign readings," Pierce requested.

"We're getting a lot of static but we can confirm there are human life signs down there, besides your own of course. Are you encountering any problems?"

Dixon almost snorted. "Resistance is minimal but we have encountered no prisoners."

"Say again Colonel?" Davis requested, sounding slightly surprised at what he thought he just heard.

"You heard me Colonel. We have encountered no prisoners."

"Our sensors definitely indicate the presence of human life signs and intelligence shows no people have been moved away from the facility."

Dixon thought about the situation for a moment. Something in the back of his mind was trying to force its way to the front but damned if he knew what it was. He couldn't help thinking how finding these prisoners were like those games that his kids loved to play, digging for treasure in the back yard that wasn't really there but reasoned that was because no one knew about it. They were searching for buried treasure in the dirt despite all evidence to the contrary that it was not there, and then it hit him.

"Glastonbury," he muttered, loud enough to be heard over the still open channel.

"As in Merlin's treasure vault?" Davis asked. "You don't think…"

"We would have missed the vault entirely that time if it wasn't for scanning wide and deep, and it wouldn't be the first time sensors missed something like this."

"Good point. Scanning now…got it. We're detecting a large bubble beneath the surface that our sensors can't penetrate. It's deep underground and completely detached from the surface structures directly above it, which is probably why we missed it the first time and it's where the life readings are coming from."

"So, any suggestions on how we get down there?"

"The Zarasians use an Alteran technology base, so try finding some rings."

"Thanks. How are things on your end?"

"Everything Zarasian around us is rubble and debris, so pretty good," Davis replied, and Dixon just knew he was smirking.

"Good to know. We're going to start to search for ring platforms. In the mean time I'd appreciate it if you could try to get a connection on your end."

"Will do. Davis out."

Dixon switched his comm. back to the battle net. "Listen up people. The Zarasians have an underground base and from what we can tell the only way to access it is using ring platforms. In other words we need to find a ring platform if we want to have a chance in hell of completing op. You find a ring platform report its location immediately and anything that could help us find more. Dixon out."

It was nearly fifteen minutes of increasingly frantic searching before they finally found the first clue. A seemingly un-notable control panel in one of the large empty rooms that they had casually dismissed when they first searched it, which turned out to be more important than they initially suspected. Initially they couldn't determine what the thing was for, since no matter what button they pressed nothing seemed to happen. Further investigation led to the discovery that a certain sequence activated a hidden ring platform set into the floor. Once the team that made the discovery reported their findings they quickly discovered multiple platforms throughout the facility.

Dixon and his team stood on one platform weapons at the ready. Just like when they first prepared to enter this building their particle magnums were set to stun, so that they could fire at whatever at whomever they encountered when the rings deposited them in the underground complex.

Thankfully when they reappeared they didn't encounter any turrets, or reapers for that matter. Just an empty room, save for an inactive ring platform and a heavily armed squad of Tau'ri soldiers. Oh and one very big, thick and heavy trinium blast door that was firmly sealed shut. Apparently the Zarasians weren't rolling out the welcome mat for them. To Dixon this door represented a very dangerous obstacle, and the fact that Cadman was smiling, somewhat gleefully, was not easing his trepidation in the slightest. He had no doubt in the slightest that she could remove this door. However their high temperature charges were not going to cut it in this case. The sheer thickness of the door would last much longer than the charges would, which meant there was only one option available to them, explosives. And this was exactly what had Dixon worried. He may not be an explosive expert like the good Captain but he had enough common sense to know that if the explosion didn't go through the door then it would go in the opposite direction, and they didn't have anywhere to hide if that happened. Tempest armour against high explosives? He didn't like what he imagined were their chances and he really didn't want to personally find out if he was right.

"No," Dixon stated, looking directly at Cadman.

"Sorry sir?" Cadman asked, confused.

"You heard me Captain," Dixon repeated sternly.

"It's the only way sir," Cadman reasoned.

"I know that, you that and the Zarasians probably know that but you are still not doing it."

"I have shaped charges sir," Cadman argued.

"And no way of knowing if they will actually make it through that door and not back fire."

"I'm pretty sure the suits can take it, sir."

"I'm not. And that's why we will be going back." Cadman looked like Christmas had been cancelled, right up until he added, "Right after you stick a timer to enough explosives to make sure that door is in pieces."

"Yes sir," she replied, somewhat too cheerfully for Dixon's liking, but he couldn't help smiling with her.

As Cadman set to work he relayed the same order to the other squads, who had encountered a similar obstacle. The plan was simple attach a number of shaped charges to the blast doors with a timer that was set to detonate after they ringed away and then immediately ring back in and storm the castle. Tactically speaking it was a good plan and with careful timing would prove devastating, two things he was very happy about.

Two quick ring trips later and they were back in the now smoke filled room, with the formerly pristine blast door now blown to smithereens. The aforementioned smithereens were lodged a good distance down the now accessible corridor, and in the Reapers lying dead on the floor. Dixon had being hoping the explosion would give them the element of surprise and judging by the lack of survivors they had indeed been very surprised.

"Move out," he ordered, and he, along with his and numerous other squads, charged into the underground compound.

No turrets swarmed the ceilings in these corridors, which certainly made things easier for them. Yes the Reapers were tough and hard to kill in a fire fight but if you knew them, if you understood their strengths and weaknesses, then they could be beaten. Combat with the enemy was swift and efficient. Any Reapers encountered were stunned by the squad members on point while those behind them finished the job as they approached with two successive point blank shots to the head. These creatures had all the strengths of Wraith, but Wraith were susceptible to stun weapons and so were the Reapers. And not even the most powerful Wraith could grow back a head.

Eventually Dixon's squad came to series of holding cells, but what they found was not what they expected. The occupants behind the force fields were, quite frankly, aliens and not the seeded human variety they had been expecting. There were three distinct types of aliens in the cells and Dixon couldn't help but compare them to animals he was familiar with, if only to make it easier to comprehend them. One variety was clearly insectoid, with four arms, four legs and large bug eyes. The second was more humanoid, but had way too many feathers, especially on the arms, to be called human. The clawed feet and fanged teeth were a real giveaway. The final species though really caught his attention. To put it frankly, they were snakes. Or rather they had a snake body, snake head and a slightly human torso, if you counted a central area with two arms sticking out of the sides. Why had this species caught his attention? Because one of them was looking at him like it had just discovered something very interesting. Those eyes held more than simple intelligence, they were thoughtful, and slightly devious.

"Hello," Dixon said, somewhat hesitantly. He wondered if he…she…the alien, could even understand him.

"Hello," the snake creature replied.

"So you can understand me then," Dixon said.

"I am familiar with your language, yes," the creature hissed. "Are you here to take us away human?"

"How do you know we are human?" Dixon asked. Their helmets weren't easy to see through at this distance so there was no guarantee they were human, and yet snaky seemed to know he was human.

"You smell similar to the Zarasians, similar but not the same. Those things," here he pointed to the dead Reapers, "smell very different. Humans smell similar but those from different worlds smell different. I have not smelt your kind before though. Where are you from?"

"Earth." Snaky just looked at him like the name meant nothing so Dixon tried again. "_Atlantis_."

That got a response, but not the one he was expecting. "That city sank long ago," snaky said dismissively. "Where are you from?"

"It rose not so long ago, or haven't you heard?" And now snaky held a hint of sadness in those slitted eyes. "You've been here a long time, haven't you?"

"Too long."

"Why don't we change that?"

Snaky nodded in response.

"Sir we found the local control room and Vidar says he's found the master override for the cell force fields," Cadman reported. Vidar was the name of the Asgardian attached to the squad and Dixon was very glad to have him. The healing device Vidar had in one of his palms had already saved one of his soldiers from what could otherwise have been a lethal injury.

"Tell him to activate it and then come and join the rest of the squad," he ordered.

A few seconds later the force fields briefly flickered before vanishing completely. The occupants inside looked clearly surprised that their cages were now open. At the end of corridor something stirred in a cell that had been overlooked by Dixon because of the lack of internal lighting. As he approached closer he could clearly see that something was lurking in the dark depths. Switching over to night vision mode he could make out a large mass of moving tendrils and what looked like a giant…flower?

He didn't have much more time to ponder what the thing could be though. As he inched closer a long tendril shot out and coiled around his leg, pulling him off his feet and dragging him towards the cell. As he slid closer he could the bud he had thought to be a flower opening like a venus fly trap to engulf him.

"SHIT!"


	88. Friends and Enemies

Dixon struggled frantically as the tentacle coiled tightly around his right leg drew him in closer to the monstrous plant creature. As the large pod, glistening with acidic juices, opened wide, ready to envelope, and then slowly digest, him, he saw several more tentacles emerge from the dark. His rifle had long since been lost, torn from his grip by the sudden and bone jarring impact with the hard ground when the tentacle first plucked him off his feet. Instinct and ingrained reflexes taking over he immediately went for his particle magnum side arm. Unfortunately said side arm was currently secure in the holster strapped to his leg. His right leg. The very same leg that the aforementioned tentacle was wrapped around. This made drawing his side arm somewhat difficult, but thankfully not impossible. After a few moments of fumbling in an attempt to free his weapon from the vice like grip the tentacle had on it he finally succeeded. Raising and aiming it with a speed and precision that came from years of experience he prioritised targeting the additional tentacles moving closer to him. It would be easier to aim for them and there was no use taking out the one holding him if several more were about to grab hold of him.

The fleeting few seconds it had taken him to aim his weapon had provided him with enough time to switch his weapon from its lowest, and non-lethal, setting to its highest. A setting which was very lethal. Admittedly this setting had a habit of reducing the crystalline battery faster than the middle setting but since he was on the verge of being eaten alive that understandably wasn't his biggest concern at the moment. Three targets. Three shots. Three tentacles writhing in agony as the energy bolts burned large chunks from their hides. The plant creature let out a high pitched shriek that would have left him somewhat disorientated had his suit not filtered it to a more acceptable level of volume. No doubt this was a defensive response meant to dissuade attackers from continued aggression. It didn't work on Dixon.

Somehow sensing that he was lining up a shot on the tentacle around his leg and noting that the shrieking sound was not impairing him in the slightest the plant creature adjusted its strategy, swinging him across the breadth of the corridor as it dragged him in closer. Thankfully his armour protected him from any bodily harm that might be caused by the impact with the stone walls and he was able to keep his grip on his handgun, however the repeated impacts did manage to completely screw up his shot.

A second tentacle wrapped around his other leg while a third went for his gun hand, latching around his wrist and squeezing, hard. The pressure was enough to crack the armour, as well as loosen his grip to the point that the next impact with the wall forced it from his hand.

As his vision blurred from the sudden movements he looked up at the pod, now wide open in front of him and seemingly very, very close. As he inched closer and closer he could see the digestive fluids the pod excreted dripping onto the floor, creating a slight dip in the stone as the acid burned through it. That acid would no doubt burn through the softer parts of his exoskeleton before searing away the flesh from his bones. If he was caught in that pod he death was all but assured.

As he moved closer and closer to the pod terror gained its icy grip over his heart. He would never see his wife again. Never hold his children in his arms. Never watch his youngest start her first day of elementary school. He felt alone. Like there was no one else to help him or they surely would have by now, wouldn't they?

What he didn't realise, couldn't realise with all the confusion, was that all this had transpired in mere seconds. Not even close to half a minute had past since that first tentacle had snagged him. Before he even realised what was happening help had arrived in the form of a green blur speeding past him. Snaky dived the tentacles at his legs his jaw widening as hi head snapped forward in two successive movements, leaving behind two bite marks where the fangs had penetrated. In his hand was a particle magnum. His particle magnum! Apparently snaky had decided to pick it up on his way toward him, and considering that he used it to blast the tentacle wrapped around his wrist he apparently knew how to use the thing.

The plant creature's shrieked increased in volume and the tentacles around his legs and wrist began to withdraw. Interestingly the ones near his legs began to spasm uncontrollably for some unknown reason.

"Down!" someone back down the corridor yelled, although in his dazed state Dixon couldn't tell whose it was.

Snaky immediately hit the deck, one arm forcing Dixon down with him. From his angle Dixon saw the pod of the plant creature explode as it was peppered with high velocity railgun rounds. Internal fluids and plant matter sprayed outwards as the pod burst open like a water melon and the writhing tentacles convulsed in the creatures death throes even as more bullets tore through it. After what seemed like an age the creature gave one last shudder before it collapsed in a heap.

Snaky gave one long hiss of satisfaction as he stared at the dead creature before slivering away. Dixon heard footsteps approach and stiffly turned his head to see Cadman approaching, her railgun rifle in hand and a wide grin on her face. Behind her was the rest of his squad, their railgun rifles raised and at the ready. Not surprising given the number of unknown aliens around them.

Cadman reached down and offered him her hand, helping pull him to his feet.

"You sure got here fast Cadman," Dixon noted.

Her smile grew noticeably wider. "I heard you screaming, sir. I figured you needed some help."

"I did not scream, Captain. I simply stated my situation. Something perfectly acceptable given the situation I found myself in."

"Yes, sir."

Dixon grunted. "Status report."

"Cell doors unlocked, we're counting three dozen plus aliens of species we've never encountered before and we're still counting them. Sir, who is that?" She pointed at the alien Dixon had dubbed Snaky.

"It appears he is a friend of mine," Dixon replied. He turned to the alien. "So what do I call you my friend?"

"As'Arif, my name is As'Arif. And your assistance was unnecessary, human."

"Oh really?" Cadman didn't sound very convinced.

As'Arif nodded. "My venom would have killed the Hesinna shortly if you had not shot it first." As he smiled the two humans were given an excellent view as a drop of venom leaked from the tip of his sharp fangs.

"Hessina? You know this creature?" Dixon asked.

"Yes," As'Arif hissed. "It is from my world, my home. The Zarasians must have brought it with them, even though it is not sentient. Judging by how it reacted to your presence it must have been quite hungry." He gazed up at Dixon's tall and broad form. "You are big. You would have made a good meal."

"I would have guaranteed it indigestion," Dixon replied.

As'Arif chuckled. He handed Dixon back his particle magnum. "An impressive weapon. I shall have to see about acquiring one for myself."

"I take it your no stranger to guns?"

"My people have acquired a few weapons over the years through trade but energy weapons are quite a rare find. Most races do not have the means to maintain them, let alone produce them."

"Still doubt we're from _Atlantis_?"

"Not as much as I did before."

Dixon sighed. "And exactly what I have to do to prove that we have people inhabiting the city of the Ancients?"

"Show me the city."

"And how would you recognise it?"

As'Arif looked at him as though he were stupid. "Tales of the city of the ancestors have been told for generations. I know of few who would not know of it on sight."

"Sir," Cadman said over their private com link. "What do you think he's going to think of Borealis?"

"He'll probably think its _Atlantis_ at first…" He suddenly realised what the Captain was insinuating. "Ah crap. Well I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. It does give me an idea though, but be ready to stun him if he gets too twitchy once we're up top."

"Can do, sir."

"So As'Arif, what say you and I make a deal?"

As'Arif cocked his hooded head at Dixon. "I'm listening human."

"I'll get you and your people, and these others, out of here. You tell us the entire story about how you got here and where your worlds are and then I'll show you _Atlantis_."

"_Atlantis_ first, then my story."

"_Borealis_, freedom and your story first, then _Atlantis_."

"_Borealis_?"

"Another city ship the Ancients built."

"All the cities of the ancestors were destroyed during the war with the Wraith. _Atlantis_ was their last stronghold before it sank beneath the waves. Everyone knows this."

"This one was only mostly destroyed, we resurrected it," Dixon explained before quietly adding. "Mostly."

He turned back to Cadman. "What's the status of the other teams?"

"They've secured the facility and are freeing the prisoners. They're a little edgy but seem to be going along with our people without complaint."

"Tell them to switch to particle magnums, stun setting only. Oh and tell them to watch out for fly traps."

"Yes, sir."

"As'Arif you're with me. I need you to spread the word to these people that we are not here to hurt them, quite the opposite in fact. Oh and I'm Colonel David Dixon by the way."

"Nice to meet you Colonel. Please lead the way. I am eager to see the sun again."

As the group of three travelled through the myriad of corridors to the surface they encountered many different aliens. As'Arif only spoke a few words of their personal language it was difficult communicating their intent, but eventually they were able to pass along the message that the armoured humans, along with the occasional Asgardian, were here to help them. As'Arif was proving to be a wealth of information on the various species imprisoned in the Zarasian facility. Quite wisely, the Zarasians had thought to mix the aliens so that there was an equal number of the different species in each section. This made it more difficult for any resistance to be organised since communication was limited at best and the different aliens didn't interact much with those outside their own species.

This meant that a single section of the prison held examples of every species within the facility. As'Arif, however, was naturally inquisitive and had made observations about his fellow inmates and attempted to learn what he could about them. Most likely he had been bored and this was the only way to entertain him. The Zarasians, after all, weren't known to hand out magazines for prisoners to read.

Slowly, they traversed the corridors, with As'Arif stopping occasionally to speak to the occasional member of his species or pass on assurances about the humans intentions to the other aliens. When they encountered a dead Reaper grunt for the first time As'Arif took particular pleasure in noting the substantial damage inflicted to them by the human weapons. After being imprisoned for so long it was undoubtedly satisfying for him to see his jailors laid low, and not in a gentle manner.

When they finally made it to the surface structures and emerged into the warm sun As'Arif's lidded eyes, an attribute gained through evolution that was not shared by his Earth cousins, went wide at the sight before him. Through the haze of dust, thrown into the air by the numerous explosions, and smoke, generated by the numerous still burning fires dotted across the landscape, you could make out the remains of the once extensive facility beyond the breached perimeter walls. What had once been sturdy, and well built, structures of a sprawling industrial zone had been reduced to a tangled mess of burnt, twisted metal and shattered stone. The bombardment had been so fierce that it was practically impossible to determine what had once stood here.

To As'Arif such destruction of that which his captors held dear was a visual feast. He marvelled at the ruined factories and shattered towers, noting with delight the skeletal remains of small ships that had either been brought down in the attack or never left their docks before they were turned into scrap.

"How long do you think until he notices it?" Cadman asked.

"Hard to say, since he's enjoying the view so much," Dixon replied. "Call in some transports to get these people onto _Borealis_. We can use the onboard stargate to get them off this world."

"Where do you want them sent to?"

"Concordia."

"Sir, are you sure that is a good idea?"

Knowing Cadman to be an Atlantis veteran he knew what her concern was and his answer was shaped accordingly. "Security on Borealis is state of the art. Before they even step through the gate they'll be scanned multiple times to check for any transmitters, implanted or not. Davis will be thinking the same thing as you Captain and will be keeping an eye on them, I guarantee it. That thing is built like a monument to paranoia. You make one wrong move and you'll find yourself caught between multiple force fields with a gun turret pointed square at your head. And heaven help them if they try and cause trouble on Concordia. Those arcologies may seem benign but just because you don't see the internal defences doesn't mean they aren't there."

Cadman raised an eyebrow. "Asgard designed?"

"Asgard tech and a design based on human paranoia."

She cringed. "Ouch." She tapped the control screen built into her gauntlet, opening a channel to Borealis. After an exchange of confirmation codes to signify her command authorisation transport craft began to descend from the fortress floating above the prison.

At the sound of the gentle whine of the crafts sublight drives As'Arif turned and finally caught site of the marvel of engineering he had previously failed to notice. Floating majestically, several thousand feet in the air, was the glimmering form of Borealis. Several hundreds of million of tons of pristine metal suspended effortlessly in the sky for all to see, to marvel upon, and marvel As'Arif did.

"Is that?" he hesitantly asked.

"Borealis, sister to Atlantis," Dixon answered. "She's really something, isn't she?"

As'Arif's look of wonder twisted and warped into one of disdain. The reason why was not lost on Dixon.

As'Arif's response was deceptively calm, but had an edge that hinted at a concealed fury. "How can she be a sister when she looks so different to what the legends tell us Atlantis looks like? Where are the towers? What have you done?"

Dixon had been expecting this reaction and had prepared and appropriate response.

"As'Arif, calm down. When we found _Borealis_ she was a wreck. The central tower was on the verge of collapse and the others had long since fallen. The city had crash landed leaving most of it completely underground. The Ancients had chosen to abandon it and for good reason. It took a long time to excavate what was left, and even after that the only thing left that we could save was the snowflake base. Without the schematics we couldn't restore what was lost, so we did what we could. We repaired the engines and the rest of the base section and then built on top of it. We brought _Borealis_ back from the brink and gave her teeth."

As'Arif just stood there, staring at the phoenix reborn from the ashes, processing everything he had just learned. Eventually, after a few agonising minutes of silence with Cadman anxiously fingering her side arm, ready to stun a potential hostile, As'Arif gave them a predatory grin. "Teeth?"

Dixon chuckled. "We made sure she has formidable defences and enough firepower to make anyone think twice about taking her on in a fight. Her guns levelled this whole area and the shields weren't even scratched."

"Impressive," As'Arif hissed approvingly.

"Glad you like it."

As'Arif took note of the transport craft beginning to land within the compound walls. "Where are we going now?"

"You'll be taken to _Borealis_. Once there we'll get your people transferred via stargate to a safe world of ours where most of the galaxy's population currently resides."

"And what are the people of an entire galaxy doing confined on a single world?"

"They're under our protection from the Zarasians, and ideally we would like you to remain there for the duration of the conflict."

"And if I and my people wish to fight instead of cower behind others?"

Dixon sighed. "Unfortunately that's not my call to make."

"And if it were?" As'Arif asked persistently.

Dixon decided to keep his cards close to his chest. "I'll talk to my superiors about it."

As'Arif nodded in understanding. "Thank you, my friend."

* * *

**Calium – Capital City**

The chess game, being played between the allies and the Reaper known as Red Eyes, and where every piece on the board represented a life, was beginning to reach its final stages. Having withstood the initial aggressive opening moves of the allied forces and launched his own counterattack, Red Eyes had conceded that air superiority and the other islands had been lost to him. Thus he had consolidated his forces and re-positioned them to where he was strongest. A direct confrontation was simply out of the question, that option had been explored in its entirety when he had been forced to push through the defensive line in order to bring in further forces to this island. He also knew that while a direct confrontation was out of the question victory was also off the table. He simply lacked the forces necessary to destroy them completely and their current activity suggested they intended to eventually retreat as soon as possible. In which case, even if he wiped them all out, they could simply destroy the island from orbit and there would be nothing he could do to stop them. As his human masters would say in their more colourful moments, he was well and truly screwed.

Records, however, indicated that the ally's strategy would be to rescue as many humans as possible, which presented a tactical vulnerability that could be exploited. Just because he couldn't destroy them outright didn't mean he couldn't inflict as much damage as possible before he finally went down. A strategic victory is an excellent substitute for an actual victory if you are looking at the bigger pictures.

His data indicated that the allied ground forces had set up defensive positions around, what appeared to be, transport points, which were being utilised to evacuate civilians. They most likely felt secure. It was time to rattle them up, and make use of the local resources.

They wanted to protect the citizens of this planet from harm. It was time to see how determined they were to stick to this code of conduct.

He had some special units at his disposal but not enough for his current needs. It was time to do a little recruiting

* * *

In a more suburban sector of the city a family of four were gathered together with a crowd of others, hiding out in the basement of an apartment building, waiting for help to arrive. From the small window, letting in the only light from above, they could almost here the sounds of battle in the distance.

Two young children, a boy and a girl, not yet beyond the age of ten were asleep in their mother's arms. That gentle contact being the greatest source of comfort and safety that any child could know. Their father, standing close by, shared a look with his wife, offering her a fleeting smile of hope, that they would survive this ordeal. She smiled back and her husband, while subconsciously holding her children closer to her.

The silence in the basement was deafening, no one said a word. What small children there were amongst the gathered mass had long since fallen silent, the trickle of tears having run dry. There was nothing more to say, no more questions to ask that hadn't already been unanswered. There was nothing they could do now but wait for help to come. They all knew the situation out there. Their home, their city, was under siege. People who they had never even met before were out their fighting for them. They could only hope that they won.

The silence was broken by a frantic, but subtly rhythmic, beating on the basement door. A door that had been locked and bolted shut since they had, by unspoken consent, all come down here.

"Let us in," said a gruff voice on the other side.

No one moved toward the door, quite the opposite, people backed away.

"We're here to help, let us in."

Still no one moved toward the door, but one person was brave enough to ask the question they were all thinking, "Who are you?"

"Friends, let us in."

"What do you want?"

"To get you out of there."

Something about that sentence struck them as odd. The phrasing, the use of the word there, when most people would say here. As if the person saying the word wasn't right there with them. As if the other side of that door was a world away.

"Open the door," the stranger said.

Several men gripped wooden and metal clubs tightly at the lack of urgency in the stranger's voice. Something here was wrong, very wrong. Something about this whole thing sounded bad. What they didn't know was that the really bad sound was the one no one had really noticed, the repetitive click, click, click of metallic feet against stone. It wasn't until the first outcry that people finally turned around to the only other entry point that no one had been looking at, with their attention focused solely on the door, the narrow basement window.

Pouring through the open window like a metallic tide was a swarm of robotic centipedes. Each one was made of a dark metal and had multiple menacing, glowing red eyes. Zarasian stringers!

The source of the outcry was a man standing closest to the window. A stringer had leapt onto his back and multiple metallic bands were constricting around his chest as the wires burrowed into the back of the unfortunate individuals neck. As he collapsed to the floor his body began to spasm uncontrollably. He was only the first.

People fled back away from the approaching swarm as several more people became victim to the stringers. In the ensuing panic no one noticed the door to the basement suddenly gained a sizeable hole at the base, or the multiple metallic orbs that rolled through said hole. The orbs uncurled but the stringers, remaining unseen for now, simply climbed up the walls in anticipation, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Several men, each armed with simple club like weapons, had moved to the front of the crowd, putting themselves between the crowd and the approaching tide of stringers. Any that attempted to get close to the still standing people were swatted like insects. Those that attempted a more aerial approach were sent flying back, shattering into piles of components from the force of the blows and the impact with the far wall.

These men were focused solely on stopping the approaching horde, which was why they never noticed the threat massing behind them. These men had been determined to be the biggest threat to their mission so they were the first to fall as the stringers leapt. Suddenly the dwindling crowd found themselves under attack from both sides. Those that had turned to face the new threat found themselves falling prey to the first one.

The mother of two held her trembling children closer to her, shielding them with her arms, as the battle between man and machine grew ever more frantic. For a time she held them off, the need to protect her children giving her strength. Suddenly in front of her stood her husband. She froze, she had seen him fall protecting them moments ago, but it was that moment's hesitation that was her downfall. With the strength of man possessed her husband grabbed their children pulling them away despite her frantic struggles, tossing them into the writhing mass of bodies and centipedes littering the floor. Within moments the centipedes were on them.

As he reached for her she looked up into the eyes of the man she loved, eyes she loved to stare into constantly. But to her these eyes were the eyes of a stranger, hollow and empty, completely devoid of emotion. As this terrifyingly familiar stranger descended upon her and her children writhed on the floor in agony she did the only thing she could think to do, she screamed for help.

No one answered.

* * *

It was done. Red Eyes now had the additional foot soldiers he required. Now he need only arm them and they would be ready. That would take time but for now there were other moves he could make.

He had many more pieces on the board besides those he had captured and enslaved. It was time to use them.

* * *

With the fighting at the docks now over the Titans had moved into the myriad of streets and back alleys that made up the Calium capital city. Most were travelling individually, the thinking being that they were powerful enough on their own to take on most threats and help was never far away.

Red Eyes knew this and was capitalising on the fact.

They came out of nowhere, moving at high speed. By the time they were close enough for sensors to detect them, despite the jamming signal each was generating, the behemoths were upon them. Heated claws tore through vulnerable mechanised joints and into the now exposed and vulnerable occupants.

Nearly two dozen Titans fell in a matter of minutes before they realised what was happening, but Red Eye's war of terror had only just begun.

* * *

Sometimes psychological warfare requires a personal touch, a little reinforcement with emotion. Which was why, when Red Eyes appeared in front of Ullr and Thor as behemoths moved to surround them, he wore a sinister grin.

"Greetings Asgardians. I am Red Eyes. Tell me, do you fear death?"


End file.
